


From the Horns of a Nomai, to the Core of a Comet

by ConsequencesOrBlessings



Category: Outer Wilds (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Before Hearthians (Outer Wilds), Bryo is Curious, Canon Compliant, Character Death, Cotton is Sad, Euka is Frustrated, Eventual Romance, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everyone is Dead, Gen, Interloper comes, Multi, Nomai OCs (Outer Wilds), Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 26,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24742036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConsequencesOrBlessings/pseuds/ConsequencesOrBlessings
Summary: Everyone knows bits and pieces of the Nomai before they died, but not everyone is certain of how it exactly went, day by day. This is the story of the Nomai, later on in their society, from a more intimate POV. Cotton is often scared of his environment, but nevertheless, he is fascinated by it. He is passionate about crafting, and it shows. All along his life, it will be proven again and again, that he is never alone. Yet time is not so friendly in the end, and it all comes tumbling down before everyone's eyes, and the world falls cold and still, but never silent.
Relationships: Cotton (Nomai OC)/ Bryo (Nomai OC), Cotton (Nomai OC)/ Euka (Nomai OC), Cotton (Nomai OC)/ Euka (Nomai OC)/ Bryo (Nomai OC), Euka (Nomai OC)/ Bryo (Nomai OC)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	1. Chapter One- The First Day

Waves a’ crashing and wind a’ brewin’ left only the sanctity of one’s mind to close off all other senses. The young one always resorted to this with every cyclone that passed o’er the island. His sister, on the other appendage, took the launch as a brief moment of floaty bliss before scrambling over to the gravity pod to stabilize herself and prepare for the impact on the ocean. This was her ‘idea’ of fun. The young one instead spent a huge portion of his time dwelling in the gravity pod, for fear that the forces would squish him flat.

“Cot! Will you please leave the pod for once? Other Nomai live here as well and I’m positive that they would appreciate the extra unit greatly.” The sister called out.

“But, Lima, the cyclones-” replied Cotton.

“It’s not as if the cyclones are coming around every three seconds, you’ll be perfectly fine, now come on! It’s almost time to leave.” She urged.

Cotton begrudgingly put down his toy shuttle and dragged himself over to his sister, Lima.

“For what reason must we leave anyway? As much as I despise this planet, I hate traveling even greater.”

“I believe that you have come of that age where you are mature enough to finally choose your role in Nomaian society. You’ll have many options to choose from, such as the search for the Eye, the Quantum Moon, the High Energy Lab, the Black Hole Forge, or maybe you want to be a mentor instead.” Lima listed.

“To be most honest, Lima, I don’t find any of those options particularly entertaining… Is it too much effort spent to reside here on Arching Isles?” Cotton grimaced.

“There is an opening here on Giant’s Deep: the construction of the Orbital Probe Cannon. They’ll send it in orbit around here and the Nomai who worked on it will have the chance to board it and even see the coordinates of the Eye of the Universe for the first time. That is what was reported to my group however.” She enthused.

“Suddenly, I have spontaneously changed my mind and have a strong desire to escape the planet.”

“That’s what I originally presumed, but all things primary, we need to get you fitted in a suit.” She said and went into the house to look for her mother’s suit. Rummaging through the closet, she retrieved it and left a small note with the staff, informing her that the suit will be used by Cotton and that they should really invest in getting him his own suit. Dashing out of their dwelling with it in hand and her own, she gave it to Cotton to put on.

“Look at you, you’re only an adolescent, yet you are the same size as an adult. If you don’t stop growing soon, you’ll be equivalent to the Sun!” Lima remarked.

“Well, that is one problem. The thing I really loathe is how small these helmets are. I feel you have a bit of an advantage with being born without antlers; more room for everything at its core.” He said, struggling to fit the helmet over his large noggin.

Lima silently agreed and took off the antler crown he made for her, it was amazing at how adept he was at crafting little things like accessories, even to raise her esteem slightly. He cared for her so much and was not afraid to express it.

Tossing the crown onto the floor of the house, she carefully sealed on her helmet, making sure it wouldn’t fall off. She went over to Cotton and helped him out with his problem.

“Ugh, putting on these helmets makes me feel claustrophobic. Regardless, what method of travel are we going to use today?” He quizzed.

“I’m very certain we’ll be using the new warp pad, and if not, we’ll call in the shuttle as per usual.” She assured.

“The warp pad? Are you sure?” He lingered on it for a moment, “You mean I’ll actually get to SEE Ash Twin and walk on it?”

“Yes to both, as long as we don’t get crushed by sand, all will be well and done.” Lima finished.

The siblings walked across the arch bridge over to the newly installed warp pad and headed inside. The computer noted that the pad was charged, everything seemed reasonably normal and functional. Cotton analyzed the white, luminescent pad, then turned his attention to an oncoming cyclone. His eyes widened with dread.

“Lima, I don’t mean to alarm you but there is a huge cyclone coming our way, and I believe its intentions are to maim us.” He stammered.

“Don’t be mistaken, Cot, it’s just giving us an encouragement launch. We’ll wait for it to send us its regards.” She grinned.

“Lima, none of this is humorous in any way, let’s just warp already!” He yelled.

“Don’t be brash and just welcome it with open limbs.” She stretched out her arms.

The howling winds screeched with ominous malice as the cyclone twirled in its dance of death towards them. Cotton’s hand clutched the side of the warp with unmatched energy, his eyes glued to the storm with nothing on his side to save his soul.

“Here it comes!” She announced with glee.

The whirling funnel hoisted the island clean off the water and into the stratosphere. Cotton closed his eyes momentarily, as he usually did, but then something compelled him to open them, and witness the vast open space of the star system. The confounded and endless revolution of enormous planets, the brilliance of the Sun itself, and the glittering of stars millions of light-years away drowned out the fear that encompassed him seconds before. He felt his arm being tugged away and his body pulled into the warp. The sensation of his atoms being torn to pieces and flung halfway across the solar system leading him to temporary darkness, then appearing on an entirely different landscape sealed the deal, making him completely disoriented.

“I believe I dissociated for a moment there.” Cotton stated.

“It appears to me like you fainted instead, there’s always a first time for both.” She quipped.

“We’re on the Ash Twin, correct?” He checked.

“Of course we are! Look all around you, it’s nothing but sand and rock.”

Cotton glanced at the foreign world before him, making a mental note that he was, in fact, on the Ash Twin, and that it wasn’t all a dream or death sequence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Traversing the bridge connecting the Ash Twin Towers was a thrilling and heart-stopping experience to behold. Looking over the railing, he saw the beginnings of an excavation down near the core of the planet. Trailing his eyes beyond the horizon, he noted Brittle Hollow and Giant’s Deep swiftly orbiting the Sun, something that was now much closer and much hotter. Passing through each of the towers was its own unique and surreal event, though he had to be quite careful not to step onto an active warp pad if he was distracted.

Coming up to the Hourglass Towers, they entered the building on the right, patiently standing on the warp pad and waiting for the tower to align with Ember Twin. Another trip through the warp ended up making Cotton nauseous, Lima on the other appendage, was just a smidge dizzy.

“Do you believe that warping has negative effects on your psyche and physical health, or am I just strange?” Lima inquired.

“Strongly. Did they ever test out the symptoms for others in this manner? Surely they must have.” He shared.

Lima simply shrugged. “Alright then, we’re off to the Sunless City. From there we will decide your future.” She announced and treaded out of the warp onto the sand-worn terrain. Cotton followed close behind, keeping wary and doubt on his side.

“Where are we expected to find it? I don’t see many structures that suggest that settlement is even here, aside from these panels and so on.” Cotton inquired.

“That’s how they get you, Cot, you’re looking in all the wrong places. You are looking to the stars when you should be looking down below…”

Cotton was confused by this. How could anything below the surface house something as lofty as a Nomai building. Right across from where they warped was a bridge, leading to a plume of solar panels with energy trailing down the wires. That was the supposed trailhead to get to the Sunless City. They ventured across it, being very cautious of the sand column flowing from Ash Twin to Ember Twin. Next to the panels were stairs leading across the chasm yet again, and at the end of it was the entrance to the Sunless City.

“There we are, my little Cottonball. The Sunless City is down that tunnel and into the tractor beam. It’ll lead us to a path straight to the settlement.” Lima guided.

Cotton glimmered at the purple rings of the tractor beam, it was reminiscent of the landing pad at the base of Arching Isles, only on a smaller scale, it charmed him to say the least. They hopped right over and took it down to the underground, following the luminescent cord to the door of the Sunless City. The path was immensely dim, it was fortunate enough that Lima remembered to bring a lantern with her. She opened the door, watching it unfold its pieces one by one, and walked inside. They were immediately greeted with stalagmites sprouting from the base of the cave. Making their way over to the gravity beam, they went up and walked alongside the trail to the alcove of trees and light controls.

“Remain here, Cotton, and refill your oxygen tank. I’ll return with the Council to discuss your career measures.” She addressed to her brother.

“Right then.” Cotton sat on the stairs, taking in the trees and basking in the light of the fixture above. He took off his helmet, albeit with inevitable difficulty, and placed it on the grass next to him. Sliding his bare hand across the ground, he rubbed grains of mineral between his fingers, cold, yet not completely dry. _Odd_. He thought.

“We’re back, Cotton! Time for your assessment.” Lima announced.

“Uh,” He gasped. “Of course.” He stood up straight, facing the group of executives before him. They scanned him, up and down, collectively. One came out and smiled, greeting Cotton warmly.

“Welcome, friend! I see you have come to initiate adulthood at last, hmm?” He spoke.

“Without a doubt, good acquaintance of mine. I have quite the idea in mind to confide in with you all.” Cotton grinned confidently.

“Be not afraid to hold back in sharing, please do tell us in whole.” The Nomai encouraged.

“With absolute pleasure, friend.” He cheered, “I see that we, as a group, have a plethora of options to choose from when it comes to life works. I recognize that as the fullest truth, yet I have one suggestion to give to you. You see, I admire variety greatly, I value it even, and I am not afraid to admit that Nomai, as a whole, should strive towards it. I want to be the one who triggers this catalyst, to set free an explosion of possibilities for all of us. So I choose not the Eye, nor the Phantom, not even the High Energy Lab right on this planet, no, I choose my own path, and I can only yearn for your permission to do so.”

“Hmm,” The Nomai grumbled, “That is quite the proposal, if I must confess. Listen, child, these projects of ours have accumulated many over generations because we shared a common goal. To find out and comprehend the signal from the Eye, yes? And there are many Nomai who have made the decision to reject it altogether, sadly to say. We cannot afford to lose the potential of young and great minds like yourself, if you can simply understand, which I do not doubt to any degree. We can not make exceptions due to certain circumstances. To put this politely, I must decline your offer.”

Cotton’s face dropped at his disapproval, feeling misguided and hurt. He thought that the Council would be more open-minded to suggestions, but perhaps he was too forward about it? He remained silent and turned his gaze away from everyone, trying not to show his disappointment outwardly.

“But that is not to say you don’t have other options altogether.” The lead Nomai consoled, laying a heavy yet desperate hand on his shoulder.

“Oh I’m fully aware, please if anything, you can choose for me.” Cotton replied.

“Are you sure?” He affirmed.

“Yes, more than anything. I’ll take it.”

“Well, from the looks of it, it would seem you would be most inclined towards a subject like the Orbital Probe Cannon? You do live on Giant’s Deep, so it would be most convenient for you. I can get you set up with them immediately, they can benefit from someone like you.” He suggested.

“I… accept. My gratitude for your service, I hope to see you all again one day.” Cotton confirmed.

“That, I can not deny, my friend. See you soon.” And with that in mind, the Nomai Council left back to their dwellings.


	2. Chapter Two- A Working Friend

“See, now that wasn’t too bad, a little off course, but still with adequate results. That’s an objectively good thing.” Lima reassured.

“Not everything is completely objective in my eyes, especially the third one. It’s fine, to acknowledge it at its core. Let’s go home, Beans.” He moped.

“No such thing as the end of the world if we don’t right now, however. Care to walk around and appreciate the scenery? Perhaps meet some new faces?” His sister egged him on.

He chuckled, “How could I oppose you in that offer, why not?”

Lima ecstatically grabbed his arm and pulled him along for the ride on the border of the city. She hummed with each step she took, Cotton on the opposite hand, was not as joyous as his sibling, but still put effort into walking with his legs.

“Oh look, there is an Eye Shrine here, brilliant and full of hope! Let’s check it out!” She beamed.

“Yes, so brilliant in fact, that I can not even see it in front of me.” He droned monotonously. Luckily for the both of them, she ignored his tasteless joke. They waltzed in, respectfully, and took the beam up to the forum. Already the room had occupied a few Nomai, writing their respective and potentially controversial opinions of the Eye of the Universe on the text walls. Cotton overread some of them as they were being written, some he did ponder for more than a second, the rest amused him. Lima took the time to contribute a few words of her own with the countless rest. She had a knack for hypothesizing about the Eye with the greatest amount of imagination possible, claiming that it had the ability to control the universe itself. _Not bad_ , she praised herself.

Cotton went back down to the lobby of the shrine and sat down at an empty table, waiting for his sister to cease screwing around with the speculations. Another Nomai sat across from him, this one close to his age and wooly-furred, with a bowl of food in his hand.

“Now pardon me, but I don’t believe I have seen the likes of you roaming this particular cave before. Not from here, are you?” He attested.

Cotton sat up properly and responded, “You must be the prize winner of the obvious trials, I wonder what you get to take home with you?”

“I have a name as well, I’m Euka.” He snickered, “Might I have one back?”

“Cotton, blunt as I can put it. Don’t wash it out, understand?”

Euka burst out laughing, “You’re too funny to be a resident of the Ember Twin, so I guess it’s clear enough. In fact, where is your origin planet?”

“I was born on Giant’s Deep, oddly the case may be.” Cotton answered.

“It never struck me that Giant’s Deep is where _real_ humor was invented. Privy to you, I don’t care all too much for puns, but if I were to say that to any other Nomai, I would not be living here anymore, for sure. They’re awfully passionate about them here, I hope that’s not the case on Giant’s Deep as well.” He speculated.

“Actually, they don’t have much of anything there, except for Arching Isles and the Construction Yard, as well as the Tower of Quantum Trials, but I don’t even bother with that one.”

“Fantastic! I’m relieved to hear that my new job will not be as dreadful as I anticipated.” Euka rejoiced.

“Are you assigned to the Orbital Probe Cannon as well?” Cotton inquired.

“Yes I am! I was already excited to join the crew, albeit nervous of any rules regarding you-know-what, but now I can barely contain myself!” He sang. “Oh, how inconsiderate of me. Do you want any cactus stew, there’s plenty of it here that can sustain five times our population for centuries, and I made it myself.”

“Yes, I would appreciate a small portion to test it, seeing that this is my first time trying it.” Cotton smiled.

Euka got up to fetch him a bowl of stew and came back quickly with an additional cup of drink.

“No worries, I have you a drink to accompany your meal. Just to warn you, the meal might not have the most pleasant taste to it, but I still tried to make it edible. And no, there aren’t any spines in it, I made sure of that three batches ago.”

Cotton picked up the cup, “To life and all others.” He gulped it down, his face contorted to the bitterness of the ‘drink’. Euka resumed quietly eating his stew. Cotton felt something tap his shoulder.

“What are we doing here?” His sister asked.

“Eating an average meal. How did your speculations handle up there?” Cotton replied.

“I got them all out.” She announced proudly, “Who’s this?”

“Euka,” He stated.

“Lima, sister of Cotton.” She placed a hand on her brother’s shoulder.

“Can I just have a nice meal please?” Cotton urged.

“You can, I never said you couldn’t, but I will sit next to you in the meantime.” She smarmed.

Cotton continued to eat up the stew, awkwardly flickering his eyes anywhere but Lima and Euka. Euka decided to break the silence.

“Uh, Lima, do you care for some stew as well?”

“No, thank you. I despise cacti in every definition of the term.” She ranted.

“Ok then. Cotton, are you finished?” He asked.

“Yes, thank you for the rations, it was fine enough for me to enjoy. A little bland, but oddly refreshing.” Cotton acknowledged.

Lima got up from the table and pulled her brother along with. Cotton turned back to wave goodbye to Euka. Euka gasped and blushed, shyly waving back.

On the way out of the city, Cotton made sure to grab his helmet and put it on. He pushed as hard as he could before it could get over his head. Rushing through the tunnels, the siblings dropped down to the door by the gravity cannon. There they would wait for their transport to clear for them. A shuttle warped in and landed in the cannon, large and sleek. Cotton, Lima and another Nomai climbed up inside it and waited for the Ash Twin to align just enough so they could launch. Lima pulled the marble to the first slot and the shuttle thrust out of the cannon, then immediately slid it over to the third slot so the shuttle spun itself around and land on Ash Twin. Cotton, Lima and the third Nomai got out of the shuttle, landing on the soft, yet blistering sand. The siblings made their way over to the Giant’s Deep warp tower and stood in the middle of the floor, watching as the planet aligned overhead. A _VWOMP_ and they were back in the rainy climate of the ocean planet. Fortunately for Cotton, no cyclones were spinning towards the island, yet he still ran back to his dwelling like there was no tomorrow.

“Sometimes I wonder how I never flew out of my mother’s arms when I was born.” Cotton pondered.

“Would you like to find out? The High Energy Lab has been working on time dilation, so I’m positive they’ll let you go back a decade and a half.” Lima teased.

“How about I throw you back a decade and a half?” He retaliated.

Lima scoffed as she took off her helmet, settling it on the rack. Taking off her suit, she sat down on the bed, making herself comfortable. Cotton did the same, shaking off the moisture in his fur.

“So tomorrow, I’m going to join the Construction Yard crew in helping to build the Orbital Probe Cannon?” He quizzed.

“Yes, you can just hop over to the other island and make yourself acquainted with them.” She affirmed.

Cotton dwelled on the thought until his eyes dropped, lulling him to sleep. Waves crashing against the edges of the island, cyclones twirling around the ocean, roaring out in their reign of fear. Droplets of rain pattering on the stone of their home in mindless harmony.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hours of numbness pass over until Cotton wakes up to a familiar and dreadful sound. He runs over to his sister’s bed and shakes her, “Lima, Lima! The cyclones!” He yells out as he gets in the stasis pod with her. He closes his eyes tightly as the cyclone lifts the island straight out of the water and above the planet. Soon after, the island fell back down onto the water, shaking the frazzled Nomai. Lima, barely awake, squinted in confusion as she tried to process what happened.

“I hate this planet, I will never second guess myself on that fact of mine!” Cotton sputtered.

“That’s where we differ, Cot. I can’t get enough of this place.” Lima murmured sleepily.

“Well, one day, this place is going to have enough of you.”

“Good for it.” She giggled.

Cotton sighed and grabbed his suit to get ready for traveling over to the Construction Yard. Fastening his helmet, he headed over to the edge of the island and waited for the place to drift close enough so that he could jump towards it. Sitting on the cliff, he dabbled in a bit of wave-gazing to pass the time. Strong currents of water lapping up against the side of the island, soaking the already waterlogged stone base.

The Construction Yard was coming up the flow, a complex little island comprised of rings connecting the infrastructure. Cotton nudged himself off the edge and plopped right in the water, pushing himself into the path of the island so he could get caught by it. The rings of the Construction Yard scooped him up, placing him on the gravity floor, so he could walk up and settle himself on the main drag. In the cave of the island stood many other Nomai, working greatly to configure and assemble the Cannon. To his right was a writing wall with many ideas and steps jotted down for directional value. One of the Nomai came up to greet Cotton.

“Greetings, friend! For what purpose brings you here to our little corner of the planet?” He asked.

“This is my new station, my name is Cotton. And you are…?” Cotton explained.

“Cassava’s the name, young friend. We’re elated to have a new member of the crew here, come now, meet the others.” Cassava encouraged.

Cotton and Cassava walked around the vicinity, meeting with other various Nomai such as: Daz, Cassava’s spouse, Privet, the supervisor, Idaea, Privet’s brother, Avens and Mallow, the couple, and many more aboard. Cotton had no trouble feeling like he belonged, due to everyone’s friendly and outgoing nature, perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad experience to endure.

Three days into the projects of the Orbital Probe Cannon and Cotton already felt his energy being drained fully. Right at the moment, the crew was responsible for crafting each of the modules, and the launch module was on its way to being completed. Cotton stayed on the side lines, monitoring the progress of the constructors, watching as they traversed the gravity rings to reach each spot necessary on the module. He wasn’t too thrilled with actually doing the work, so he opted to be a scribe instead. With all the cyclones looming around, he didn’t want to be one of those poor fools who got stuck on the rings while they hoisted the island off the planet, there were plenty of mishaps regarding that very instance. One time, when a cyclone came overhead, a Nomai, Stala, was on the ceiling of the ring. She gripped the sides as hard as she could, but then the island made contact with the water once again, and Stala fell off. She may have had a mild concussion, but that was enough of a warning to Cotton to stay off the rings.

The crew gathered around the text wall in the small cave of the island, writing down the notes that Cotton wrote on the side, and putting it on a scroll. They had just completed the launch module, and were preparing to send it into orbit around Giant’s Deep. With the help of a large staff, Cassava, Daz, and Avens pushed it out into the ocean, watching it be picked up by a cyclone. Up, up it went, past the clouds of heavy gas, to be assembled by an orbital crew onto the cannon. Cotton kept his sights locked onto the sky as the remnants of the launch module disappeared. A small hand pecked at his shoulder. He turned around to be greeted by a familiar face.

“Euka? You’re just now arriving?” Cotton inquired.

“I know, I know. Apologies for my tardiness, the journey here was rather perilous.” Euka grinned sheepishly.

“By the curve of my horn, please elaborate.” Cotton rested his hand on his chin, looking down at the young Nomai.

“So, I arrived by shuttle, right? Yes, that _seems_ simple enough, but it took a few attempts to actually get to where I needed to be, because the water just HAS to be in my way.” Euka seethed.

Cotton looked all around the island for evidence of a shuttle landing.

“And might I ask where your shuttle has landed?”

Euka looked behind him and back at Cotton, smiling politely, “No, you may not.”

“Alright then.” Cotton raised his hands.

Heading over to the right side of the island, Cotton showed Euka the basics of construction management. Euka took a long study of the schematic of the cannon, the projection stones, and so on. He acquainted himself with the rest of the crew, smiling and absorbing all the friendly vibes everyone gave off. Given a few days of his own to become accustomed to the ways of the crew, he quickly took to modifying the small mechanics of the Probe Tracking module, tweaking the tube so that the marble fit just right inside.

“Sometimes, you just need to take a step back and appreciate the intricacies of fine detailing. There’s no way you can get away with doing a lazy job, because that will then reflect on the fruits of your labor. Do you understand what I’m saying here, Cotton?” Euka mused.

“Sure, I can comprehend your vision, but I don’t think I can apply it all the same for myself. I didn’t have much of a choice coming to join the Construction Yard, but it seems to be better than anything else. It still has the element of creation that I do have an affinity for, just on a much larger scale. It’s more overwhelming than anything; it’s why I prefer smaller projects.”

“Ah, right. Well, the job’s not finished yet, there’s a final piece that has yet to surface.”

“What is it?” Cotton quizzed.

“It’s still in heavy development, but Arching Isles has been working on an extreme project. Memory statues, they call them. It’s meant to hold your memories and restore them to you in the case of success or failure. But, it’s a long way down the line until they’re complete.” Euka filled him in.

“Arching Isles? That’s where my home is! You mean to tell me that someone on Arching Isles has been working on a life-changing project, right under our noses?” Cotton gawked.

“Yes, but only recently. A Nomai named Phlox has begun his craft, and has been testing it out over and over again. However, there are some difficulties with the process. He says that it is inefficient, that it is holding memories for only a few moments until it drops them entirely. He might be working on this for a few years until they become wide-spread and fully functional, but until then, the Probe Tracking module must remain here.” Euka checked over the module as it comes to the end of its construction.

Cotton held onto that thought and walked over to the edge of the platform.

Euka turned his gaze over to him, “Where are you going, Cotton?”

“If my work here is complete, I’m off to return home, to the Arching Isles. There’s not much left to do here, and I’m dangerously curious towards the memory statues, so where else am I meant to be?”

“Uh, here, obviously? You can’t just wander off in the midst of high-maintenance time, we need you to stay and help out.” Euka argued.

“My apologies, Euka. I’m afraid I can’t hear you any longer, for the waves are now caressing my helmet as I sink in the water.” Cotton remarked, slipping off the edge, and wading off into the distance.

“Cotton! Get back here!” Euka shouted, “COTTON!”


	3. Chapter Three- An Unprecedented Project

Arching Isles floated right up against the current, the perfect place for Cotton to dock and reach to grab on. He lifted himself onto the bank of the island, shaking off the water from his suit. Hopping over onto the other side of the arch, there lay a written marker saying, “Statue Workshop”.

_That’s new_ , Cotton muttered to himself.

The workshop was always here, but was never really put into a slot like this before, so to see a label finally put on the stand was oddly jarring for Cotton. A door slid open as Phlox came out of his studio.

“Oh, hello there, young one. What might I help you with?” Phlox greeted.

“I wish to know more about the memory statues you are working on. This is my first time hearing about them.” Cotton stated.

“The memory statues, you say? I must warn you, they are highly dysfunctional at the moment, it’s not a safe haven for a child to occupy.”

“I’m not much more of a child than you are, Phlox. I have no intent to wreck the place, nor mess with the wiring of said statues. I just want to learn about them, I see that as the best way to avoid such travesties.” Cotton countered.

“Ah, but back in the age of Vessels, at your age, you would be grouped in with the juveniles, still a long ways away from qualifying as the leader of one.” Phlox smirked.

“Phlox, this isn’t about the Vessel. I’m not here to entertain you. I’m working with the Construction Yard crew on the Orbital Probe Cannon, I believe it is my duty to check in and learn more about the statues. It really doesn’t matter how old I am.” Cotton groaned, digging his face in the palm of his hand.

“Alright, alright, I’ll take you to see them. Just don’t judge me on the appearance of them, they’re still a work in progress.” Phlox eased.

“That’s the precise reason why I came, I want to witness progress in action.”

Phlox and Cotton stepped into the door, on the inside of the island. Within lay a strict path along the walls of the workshop, spiraling up three-fourths of the way.

“As you can see, I have a lot of messes to tidy up, lots of stone and rubble strewn about. It’s almost pathetic, but given the circumstances, it’ll have to do.” Phlox introduced.

“It’s better than my little trinket worktable, you definitely have your work cut out for you.”

“You do designs as well? Can you demonstrate for me?” Phlox enthused, cracking a gleeful grin.

“Not on your level, of course. I mean, let’s face it, I’m an amatuer, nothing too impressive.” Cotton admitted shamefully.

“I was an amatuer too, no excuse not to show off and be proud of your work. Come on, now, show me what you’re capable of.” Phlox said, guiding Cotton to his crafting desk.

Cotton sat down against his will, an array of carving tools spread out for him to use.

“Can’t we save this for later, what about the statues?”

“Nope, now.” Phlox instructed. “Once you’re finished, I will grant you the reward of the statues.”

The one thing that came to Cotton’s mind, in terms of crafting, was his sister’s antler crown. It wasn’t anything too fancy, but it was a gift to her, to remind her that she still is a Nomai, with or without the horns. At once, he grabbed the hammer and chipped away at the stone. Phlox left his side to prepare the statues for presentation, looking back every once and awhile. Cotton became totally absorbed by the energy of sculpting a little trinket. It’s been some time since he had last put together something, what with all the management that was required of him back at the Construction Yard.

Meanwhile, Phlox examined his handiwork, looking most displeased by the lack of clarity it disposed. There was something missing from the bust, he was sure of it! But what?

Just as he was getting to a sort of conclusion, Cotton called out to him.

“Hey Phlox, I think I’m done, but don’t quote me on that in the case that it looks like a failed experiment.”

“Coming!” Phlox ran over to Cotton to see what he’d come up with.

Cotton handed the makeshift antlers very delicately off to Phlox, who was absolutely enthralled by the finished product.

“Oh, how saccharine! Is this a crown? For whom has this been granted towards?” Phlox chirped.

“The original design was crafted specifically for my sister, Lima. She was born without antlers, so little Cottonball decided to make her some of her own antlers.” Cotton very affectionately described.

“You’re so thoughtful! Are there any other ideas you have in mind for the future?” Phlox inquired.

“Of course, it’s more of a product of consideration than obligation, and boredom, can’t forget boredom. But, I have no outlet to make these visions come true, my work table has barely any substance to it. And not to mention, us over at the Construction Yard have been put on hiatus until you get finished with the statues.” Cotton shrugged.

“There’s plenty of space in my workshop for you to move in and get busy. It’s quite lonely sometimes, very echo-y and dark. I could use a companion during these trying times.” Phlox offered a position.

“You would actually let me set up shop in here? Me as in Cotton me? I-, uh, what shall I say?” Cotton sputtered.

“Hopefully, if you are an intellectual, you won’t turn this down.”

“Of course I accept! I can only give you all my gratitude, fine sir. You are the sun in a sky full of planets, shining brighter than all the other stars beyond. Wait right here, I’m going to bring my materials down below.” Cotton gushed, running out the door and up to his house. He was so overwhelmingly elated to have a new opportunity aside from the perilous construction of the Orbital Probe Cannon. This is where his life truly ignites and emits its first flames.


	4. Chapter Four- Euka's Lament

Euka stared out unto the waves, shaking from the cold and wet climate, and from his frustration towards Cotton leaving so suddenly. His teeth chattered as he walked back to the cave where the rest of the Nomai settled for the evening.

“Damn him.” He muttered under his breath, warm puffs of air flying out from his mouth.

Cassava approached him with a warm demeanor, quite literally with open arms.

“Hello there, young Euka! Come to join us already? We’re preparing to make dinner, seaweed wrapped jellyfish spawn!” Cassava piped down, seeing as Euka was clearly not interested, or perhaps even disgusted. “Is there something wrong, friend?”

“H-he l-l-left the island.” Euka choked out. “Cotton did.”

“I don’t blame him, however, not much is happening here now. It was wise of him, in fact, to leave at such a chaotic time.” Cassava glared at Avens and Mallow. “But no worries, friend. It’s not too horrendous, for now.”

Euka chuckled, “How do you manage to stay so calm and open with these Nomai?”

“I don’t. Not one second that passes by leaves me any portion of my sanity. I am on the cusp of losing my mind, every hour longer I stay around them, or even _talk_ to them. Luckily, the only one who hasn’t caused me a migraine is my loving spouse, Daz. I don’t know how he does it, but I am eternally grateful that he’s held me back from pushing them into the ocean for this long.”

“I hypothesize that by the time that you do push them in, they would have already become marine creatures, forever haunting you until you pass.” The young crew member teased.

Cassava shuddered at the thought. “And with my gratitude, I praise the fact that evolution does not work that way.”

Euka grinned and eyed the room around him. Various crew folk like Daz, Avens, Mallow, Privet, and Idaea were socializing with one another. Avens and Mallow more so than others, with their affectionate gooeyness and sappy romance lingo. With that in mind, Euka could empathize with how much Cassava just wanted to be over with it. He sat on the bench next to the cave wall, slowly nodding off as the cold encapsulated him, and the thunder sang him a song, a song of hope.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just outside of his consciousness, a distant howl of wind permeated his ears, while the distinct smell of cooked seafood attacked his nose, waking him up fully. He opened his eyes to see that he was not on the bench anymore, but in the stasis pod. The other Nomai giggled as they left him there to serenely snooze without certain death over his head to wake him. He sat up immediately in a panic, breathing heavily.

“Listen here, it is quite unknown to me as to how you sleep under such storms like these. I can only envy you in your unprecedented ability.” Cassava tilted his head, pondering deeply.

“You can only endure so much when you live in an underground city with sand falling above you, like a roaring avalanche. Cyclones are no different in this case, with the granted exception that they prey on you.” Euka reminisced, a forlorn look in his eyes.

“Well, come up lad, you need a fresh and warm meal. We have a sustainable amount for all of us here.”

The cold and semi-tired Nomai got up from his safe spot and sat himself over on the lounging slab, while the others joined in and gave him his portion of seaweed wrapped jellyfish spawn. And that was all that he cared about in the moment, not the Cannon, not Cotton, nor any inconvenience that hindered his life.


	5. Chapter Five- A Puzzling Result

Within the island were two special Nomai, working on a project that will, undoubtedly, change the lives of everyone for eternity. The apprentice, Cotton, while doing his own little side works, also gave his two cents when it came to the memory statues. Phlox had remained imperceptibly puzzled as to how the statues weren’t functioning properly for weeks now, and it didn’t look like it was going to be solved any sooner.

“Cotton, come and inspect this for me. Tell me what I’m doing wrong here, if you can.” Phlox pleaded at last.

Cotton sighed, sitting up from his chair, strolling over to the hoard of busts ominously standing in the middle of the floor.

“Okay…? Here’s the thing. First of all, you spend copious amounts of effort on the features of the face, spectacularly done might I add. BUT, what other things must you consider when making a data-storing statue?”

“The actual storing itself, I know that. The material I use for the retention is electrified copper, which I used for the eyes themselves. And since I did that, there should be no obstacle when performing a pairing between statue and Nomai. Yet here we are…” Phlox elaborated.

“You said that the statues only retain the data for a brief moment until it rejects it entirely, right? Why not add more copper to it?” Cotton suggested.

“I believe I attempted to do so, but ultimately failed in its installation. However, there’s a chance I could try again. The question I have is, where am I going to put it? The antlers, perhaps?”

“It shall not hurt anyone to give it a chance, I’m interested nonetheless. See what you can do about it.”

Phlox dragged one of the statues over to the corner and onto a stand to examine any viable alternatives to just straight up adding a pair of antenna to the bust. Grabbing one of his hammers, he hacked off the antlers with gentle precision, and sanded the excess off with pumice. Taking a chunk of copper, he placed it into a crate, and tapped it with a conduction staff to electrify it. Giving a few moments for it to cool off, he took the malleable mess of struck copper, and started rolling it into a log, stretching and bending it to resemble the likeness of antlers. Finally, using a pick to whittle into the stone and a torch to heat up the surrounding base, Phlox attached the antlers on the top of the statue. He stood back and admired his product.

“Please, please, please. I need this to work, or I will have failed all of us. I’ll be lucky if I get this finished before the universe fades away into obscurity.” He muttered, gritting his teeth.

Standing in front of it, he let the statue activate, watching all of his memories fly into the eyes of the statue, strands of Nomai writing being absorbed, until it stopped. Phlox shook his head and blinked rapidly.

“That was an adequate test, indeed. Let us hope it lasts long and prosperous.”

Running down to Cotton, Phlox reported the news to him.

“I ran the test, all was well and steady, and no harm came to me, finally. The pairing was successful. I can not wait to see how long this one lasts for, hopefully longer than two minutes, especially knowing that the prescribed time lapse will be twenty-two minutes. My memories are being recorded this very second, in real time. That is good, and make sure that this is being inscribed, Cotton, we can’t waste this any longer.”

Cotton, keeping an ear out, noted everything Phlox said onto his writing staff and placed it in a scroll.

Phlox yelled out in urgency, “One moment! Something is failing to receive me… Don’t inform me. The insolent statue did it again.” He announced with true defeat. “URGH, what am I doing wrong? Must I replace each statue with a copy of my own head? If I don’t get this done by the time the Ash Twin Project is complete, I _will_ lose my head. That is not an option.”

“I will add that too, no worries.” Cotton assured.

“Enough, enough. No more. I want to rest, please.” Phlox concluded, massaging his temples.

Cotton looked on in sorrow, pain for the friend he tried so desperately to assist in making these statues. As Phlox walked down and out of the workshop, Cotton stayed behind a little while longer, to look over the statues and their flaws. Every single one of them, eyes closed, baring their faces to the unforeseen future. He reached out his hand, daintily tracing their features, nearly flinching every time he lingered on one spot for too long, fearful that it would awake. On Phlox’s work table, he picked up a tablet, scanning over the various concepts Phlox had for the statue. Each one of the sketches were elaborate and beautiful, like the talented artisan Phlox tended to be, he thought of making a whole Nomai statue or a large cutout of a face with many strokes of color on it, even one piece that had a fan splayed out behind it. His mouth curled up into a cheeky smile, admiring all of the work and skill that went into such developments like these.

Sitting back down at his desk, Cotton grabbed a slab of his own and started scribbling little doodles for the statues, giving them more decor and flair, such as collars, crowns, paint, and masks. Filling out the first slab, he took another and started filling that one out with the stuff he liked from the last. Three hours passed, along with a cyclone or two, and he had amassed over a dozen concept slabs, brimming with ideas of various essential accessories to solve the retention problem. Examining each one of them, he laid his head on the desk, and gently dozed off, dreaming of vague victories and future potential.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the sun shining through the open door, Phlox entered back into the workshop, eyes heavy and fresh from slumber. Walking up the stairs, he found the young apprentice dead asleep in the midst of his work, rumbling with each breath he took. Phlox nudged him awake.

“Arise, update me on your progress of research that you’ve done here.”

“I, uh, stayed overnight to attempt to solve the mystery that you’ve been plagued with for all this time. Here’s some of my handiwork that you can use for reference.” Cotton handed him the many slabs of concepts he worked tirelessly on last night.

Moving from stone to stone, Phlox scanned through the different accessories for the statue. Slowly but surely, he caught some ideas from the references.

“Wait… I was so certain that I had noted everything I needed for the busts, but I knew I was missing something! Hold on, Cotton. I know what I need to do!”

“Is it…?”

“Yes! The collar! The same collar that holds great significance throughout Nomaian history. No matter how much we evolve, there remains one constant, the collar of curiosity, a reminder of what compelled us to seek the stars in the first place. But not only that, we had an affinity for the planet of our origin, Radix, a place long dead now. That was millions of years ago, Cotton, but we never forget their names, it would be disrespectful to the ones who sacrificed everything to get us out of there in time.” Phlox mused in melancholic memory. “But now, I must revise the statues, and add our symbol to it.”

Cotton stayed behind at his desk, and smiled at Phlox, finally glad that he could be of some help for the statues’ creation. While Phlox was away tending to the designs of the statues, Cotton leaned under his desk to grab a piece he had worked on and off many days before, seeing as now would be an acceptable time to polish it up. It was a collar with empty boxes on either side to be filled and in the middle was a water container, a hole on top to pour the liquid in. He grabbed a brush and dipped it into the small bowl of yellow dye, smearing all over the collar with a glossy finish. Setting the collar out to dry, he hauled over a crate of dirt and scooped out many cupfuls to put in the garden boxes. Then he pressed a few seeds into the fertile soil, and poured in the water into the tank. Now all he had to do was wait until the first sprouts shoot up and grow into strong trees.

Phlox ran up to Cotton and embraced him from behind, laughing with a ridiculously large grin. “It worked! Your ideas worked, I am so grateful to have brought you here to help! I apologize for ever doubting you overall. I am not all too adept at identifying geniuses unlike myself, and I blame my younger years for such heinous judgments.”

“I wasn’t all that sure of my own abilities either, I was only making educated guesses here.” Cotton scoffed.

“It was educated enough, friend.” Phlox remarked, still holding onto the other Nomai.

“Your affection has now long overdue its stay, please release me from your limbs.”

“Oh alright then. But don’t expect this to be the last of it.”

“If only I could live up to those expectations…” Cotton grimaced.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Settling down at his desk, Cotton stared at his creation waiting for it to bloom. Phlox became equally as engrossed in the young Nomai’s yearning and joined him in inquisition.

“Might I ask what you possess here?” He asked.

“I made a localized air collar to replace the need for helmets, I just need the trees to come in.” Cotton mumbled.

“My, for what occasion is this necessary?” Phlox examined the collar.

“I have grown exhausted of struggling to fit a helmet over my enormous skull, plus I despise having to stare at masks a lot of the time. Is it too much to see your faces so I can identify you?” Cotton said, leaning on his hand.

“It’s certainly quite ambitious, but remember this: not every Nomai is expected to wear these. Though I shall not discredit you where credit is due, yet this seems to be potentially hazardous if left unchecked.” Phlox warned.

“I’m no fool, Phlox, please cease forcing the words you say into my mouth. These types of equipment will require many test runs and not all of them will be successful… I hate to think about it, but someone needs to be my runner.” The young Nomai grew somber.

“I’m aware that there’s no alternate option to this, but my heart wishes so. It’s dangerous, so very dangerous. I hope whomever is chosen stays safe and healthy all throughout.”

“I wish this too, friend.”


	6. Chapter Six- Experimental Response

Running up to his dwelling above, Cotton gathered his small community in interest of experimentation. A crowd of Nomai peeked out in curiosity and sat down to listen, children and adults alike.

“Greetings everyone! I have a proposition I wish to share with all. Who here has the desire for something different?” Cotton announced with gusto.

Several small hands flew up into the air, Lima was one of them.

“Excellent! Now, who here likes to be flung up into the upper atmosphere, hurtling at over 300 meters per second?”

The number of hands went down to a select few, Lima still included.

“Okay, okay. Uh, I had an experiment I wanted to test out, and I need support with this. In this case, I need a runner. Someone bold enough to go against the forces and come out all in one piece.” He enthused.

Lima still had her hand up, bouncing around in anticipation. Cotton frowned at her and searched onward.

“Anyone besides my obviously on board sister?”

Small chuckles could be heard from the crowd, some Nomai stepped forward to join his side. Lima ran out, shoving others out of her way, and happily pranced over to her brother.

“Does it really have to be you? I mean, this is highly dangerous, and a huge risk to take. I really don’t want you to lose yourself to this trivial trial of insurmountable stakes.”

“Cotton, I am your elder sister here. I don’t have time to be bossed around by the likes of you. Am I not perfect for this role? Do I not meet your requirements?” Lima argued, attempting to make herself out to be the larger Nomai in this situation.

“I know this. Perhaps I should delay this in the interest of safety, and so I can make more of the collars and let the trees bloom. You need to sort out with your crew that you are willing to do this, then maybe it won’t impact them as hard.” Cotton consoled, pushing Lima back down on the ground.

“Agreed, but I _will_ be there, whether I be a supervisor or runner. I want to be first in line for this!” She pouted.

“I suppose so… Whatever the case, I need you to be prepared ahead of time. Go and tell them, Beans.” He urged.

Lima nodded in acknowledgement and dashed into her house to grab her helmet. Clicking it into place, she ran off to the warp pad, with Cotton watching her go off into the distance.

What is one to do when the other never cared? They stand alone in the rain, looking but never acting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From one warp to another, Lima hopped to and fro like she was on a path of stepping stones. One moment she found herself on Ash Twin, the next thing she knew, she was on Ember Twin. The path to the High Energy Lab was up ahead, all she had to do was walk right in and talk to them like any other Nomai. It’s not that difficult, but why did she hesitate? Casually she walked over the canyon, clenching her hands as her knuckles turned pale, and her heart running a thousand paces.

“Do not stutter, you fool. These are your professional affiliates, not your clique, well, I mean, two of them are. Oh what are you doing, standing there all by yourself? Me? I wanted to confess to my crew that I was probably going to be killed in an experiment at some point and I thought it would be quite the breaking of ice! All so my kid brother could advance his methods of air supply! That’s it, my friends! That is i-” Lima spent ages mumbling to herself until she noticed that someone was watching her sputter like a moron.

“Pardon me, did I hear that correctly? That you’re going to die?” The Nomai spoke out.

“Oh great foreboding Eye!” Lima clasped her hands over her chest. “Vin, you nearly sent me into cardiac arrest! I’m not dead yet, no worries.”

“But you said that you were going to die? Something about your brother and an experiment? Don’t tell me that one of the Nomai on Arching Isles finally lost their head.” Vin concerned himself.

“Listen here, I’m not just doing this for Cotton, but also in my own excitement. I mean, I love being launched, and I can take good care of myself too. There’s a very low risk of me actually getting injured, as long as I take many, many precautions that is.” She rambled, giving her perspective on the matter.

Vin spied her skeptically knowing very well what she meant.

“Friend, I know you greatly. Why come out all the way to the High Energy Lab if not to sign away your life with a will that means nothing? I don’t know if I can allow this, and I’m sure the rest of the crew here would be appalled at your decision. You know the repercussions this would have on all of us.”

“I don’t want to disappoint anyone by rejecting this very apropos call to fate. I can arrange any failsafe I want, so I haven’t any clue as to why you care to delay me. Keyword: _delay_.” Lima crossed her arms.

“This would cost you your life. Why wouldn’t I intervene? We don’t need to sacrifice any more bodies than we have by coming here in the first place! We know our limits, but it appears that you lack perception on the depth of the situation. Your third eye seems to have closed itself in this decision, no wonder you want to risk everything…” Vin declared, backing off in frustration.

“And what about the rest of them, the ones who have agreed to participate? Are their lives any less important than my own? With the proposition of the Sun Station under debate, it would seem that our crew have all collectively lost their heads. I just cannot comprehend your transparency here.” She chastised him, and while yet masked, her emotion seeped right into her words.

Shaking her head, she turned back and left him to meditate on his thoughts. Seeing as how she can barely muster the courage to consult her crew directly, she depended on Vin’s overwhelming concern to spread the news to them. The sun beat down on her back, the heat crawling into her suit and sticking to her fur. The consequences of her actions had begun their judgement, weighing her down with the forces of nature. Never in her life would she have ever considered the Sun to be an oppressive force, but in all honesty, this entire star system is cursed.

With the gravity cannon in sight, she made a beeline for it, hopping over large rocks and natural cairns. Orange is a beautiful color, she concluded, with the vast contrast of burnt sienna against the void of space. But it’s more admirable when it’s not as close to the sun as it is. Arriving at the cannon, she took one last look at the terrain of Ember Twin, closing her eyes as ingrained the image into her mind for as long as she could.

_It’s time to go_.


	7. Chapter Seven- With Presentation comes Introduction

Euka plopped himself into the water and swam over to the Arching Isles, seeking out Cotton in an act of reconciliation. Instead, when setting foot on the island settlement, he found everyone but Cotton.

“Excuse me? Has anyone seen Cotton as of recent? I wish to speak with him.”

“To the best of my knowledge, the last I heard of Cotton was that he was in the Statue Workshop. It’s inside the island.” A Nomai responded.

“My gratitude, friend.” Euka smiled and nodded.

He headed to the door of the workshop and knocked on it inconspicuously. It was Phlox who answered and invited him in. Euka inquired about the whereabouts of Cotton.

“Pardon me for barging in like this, but I need to see Cotton.” Euka implored.

“Oh, he’s just up over there, working on his craft. He’s been very busy indeed, with what his new invention is all about. A localized air collar is what he’s labeling it as, and I must admit that it’s absolutely ingenious.” Phlox filled him in.

“An air collar you say? One that would neglect the need for proper helmets? That sounds about as necessary as it is dangerous, I’ll go converse with him of it.” Euka took the stairs up to Cotton’s work table, the young Nomai eagerly chipping away at fresh stone. Circling the phenomenon, Euka spoke up and made himself known.

“Cotton?”

Cotton jolted in his seat and swung his head around to meet Euka, locking eyes with him.

“Uh, yes, Euka?”

“Is that the air collar that you are working on? It looks quite… unique.”

“Yes it is. Very unique, indeed. It’s a passion of mine in progress, and I want to get more copies of it completed. But! I must inform you of the memory statues. They are finally complete and ready to send off! Phlox would have told the crew sooner, but to be fair, it has only been an hour since their finality.” Cotton enthused, clasping his hands together.

“Oh, the statues. I didn’t realize that they were finished. Can I view them?” Euka quizzed.

“Only if you bring the crew here, then you may all witness the power of the memory statues. It’s truly whimsical in every sense of the word. Hurry now! Go and gather them here!” Cotton urged, shooing Euka out the door.

“Okay, I will return in a few moments.” And just like that, Euka was out the workshop.

Cotton sighed and turned to Phlox, “I’m really anxious for them to finally see the statues, but I’m also afraid of failure in function. What if the statues don’t activate? What if the statues turned off mid-pairing? What if-”

“Cotton, ease your mind. I have ensured the statues’ stability and status, there is no way for them to malfunction.” Phlox consoled.

“I hope the integrity of that statement stays strong, as with the busts equally.” Cotton messed with his hands, keeping his eyes on the door.

**  
**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the light of the morning, in the dark of the cavernous island, many Nomai from all over the system gathered in groups to view the memory statue for the first time ever. Phlox was the presenter, Daz was the test subject, and the rest kept their distance from the statue. Bringing out a recorder, Phlox had begun his notes.

“Yarrow, would you kindly step back so Daz is closest to the statue? When pairing, the statue will choose whoever is in closest proximity.”

Daz stared straight into the statue’s copper eyes as they opened, and he could see floating Nomai text and images fly into its optical units. A few subtle gasps could be heard from the surrounding Nomai.

“...See how its eyes have opened? That tells us the statue has paired with Daz. Now, no matter where he is in this star system, Daz’s statue will record his memories and send them to the Ash Twin Project.”

Yarrow spoke into frame, “This is extraordinary sculpting work, Phlox!”

“He’s outdone himself again, hasn’t he? And now that we have our first successful pairing, we can test out my memory storage prototype.” Daz now spoke to the audience before him, “Each statue will send a single Nomai’s memories to his or her own storage unit within the Ash Twin.”

“Each storage unit will be equipped with a mask, the statue’s counterpart, which will be able to send those stored memories back to the corresponding Nomai.” Phlox concluded, switching off the recorder.

**  
**

With the presentation concluded, rampant discussion began amongst the other Nomai, and many more questions arose.

Things like, “How does the act of sending memories back in time affect the user as a whole?” and “Did you really accomplish this all on your own?”

Phlox was there to hold these questions and answer them.

“I haven’t exactly figured out the logistics of such an action, but I posit that it’s more of an essence that gets sent back in time rather than the user itself. But really, what do I know? As for the action of completing our little project here, such a task is impossible to do alone. No, I would’ve spent an eternity trying to figure out what wasn’t clicking if it weren’t for my good friend and temporary assistant, Cotton. He provided concepts that opened my eyes, and I can not give him enough of my gratitude for it.”

“That is correct, Phlox. To put this humbly, I must admit to my skill and creativity. Working in this workshop gave me the outlet I so desperately needed, and if he hadn’t taken the time to understand me, this never would have been accomplished.” Cotton gave himself his due credit.

**  
**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With the reveal and testing of the statues over with and approved, the remaining Nomai put together a celebration party up above the workshop. Various Nomai were tasked with preparing the banquet, using anything they could find around the island and in the water. That meant looking under rocks and digging at tree roots, but most importantly, taking a dive into the water to hunt down marine life. Euka noted that Nomai on Giant’s Deep behaved vastly different from Nomai on Ember Twin, with their careless nature and savagery. The only Nomai he could trust fully was Cotton, who proved himself not to be void of decorum and class. The two of them sat themselves down at the table, waiting for the food to cook.

However, what they didn’t expect so soon was for a random Nomai to sit herself right across from them, smiling with inquisition.

“Hello! Are you the apprentice of Phlox I’ve heard about?” She asked, setting her head on her hands.

“Uh, temporary assistant to be more accurate, yes. Do you have anything you wish to understand about our process?” Cotton responded.

“Some things. How did you manage to succeed in making the statue work? What was the special additive?” She persisted.

“Well… I can’t say there was anything truly special and unique about it. I mainly thought of the concept on a night of rabid bliss, all it was was just a collar, but I guess I never knew what that collar meant…” Cotton clasped his hands together and looked down.

Euka kept staring at the Nomai, occasionally glancing at Cotton, in utter confusion or perhaps infatuation. He gathered the confidence to interject.

“I mean not to be rude, but it was just so sudden for you to join our table here. It happened so quickly in fact, that I never got a chance to learn your name.”

“Ah, I am Bryo.” She reached her arm over to shake hands.

“Euka, and this is Cotton, a great affiliate of mine.” He nudged Cotton in the side.

“Bryo.” She greeted again to Cotton.

“I know your name now, it’s fine.” He snickered.

“And I do as well.” She winked.

Cotton shook his head clear and asked her some questions.

“So, what is your profession?”

“I’m in an apprenticeship with a shaman, so I’ll be the one to heal others in unfortunate situations, if I can.” She trailed off, “But, by the time that I understand healing to its fullest potential, I’m sure I’ll do great things!”

“Great! Where are you stationed as of now?” Cotton continued to ask.

“Uh, here, obviously.” She cocked an eyebrow, “There are plenty of shamen placed around the system, but conveniently not many placed in Giant’s Deep. With all these cyclones roaming around, you would think that the mortality rate would pass straight through the atmosphere.”

“I’ve made plenty of observations of the times Nomai have… slipped, and even more rarely, perished. Not everyone is lucky, but that’s why I am trying to advocate for better protection against these natural disasters. Now I know that I can’t prevent them from being injured entirely, at least not currently, but starting with the air collar I can craft my way into making Giant’s Deep a safe environment for Nomai.” Cotton proposed.

Bryo leaned back into her chair quietly.

“It certainly is a pleasant idea to ponder, but I highly doubt it could be accomplished. I mean, Giant’s Deep is an uncontrollable force of nature, there’s no way that any Nomai could terraform it to his or her liking. But I must admit that you seem to be a beacon of determination… I admire such traits in Nomai, we could all use that in our times.”

“Mhm.” Cotton nodded precisely.

**  
**

Right in the nick of time, the food started to be passed around. Many Nomai set out large platters and deep bowls of various combos of vegetation and proteins. A couple serving plates were sent to their table and a bowl of sauce soon after came to be. Cotton, Euka, and Bryo each gathered their portions and feasted contently.

Cotton slowed down his consumption and stirred his food around with his utensil.

“So, Bryo? Where is your home exactly?” He inquired.

“I live at Brittle Hollow, on the surface actually. I never cared much for the city, too close to the black hole for my preference. And the meteors are not as much of a problem as you conceive them. After its period of flaming rage, it goes dormant for a week straight.”

“Really?” Cotton gasped, “I thought it was always active.”

“No, no, actually it appears to be slowly dying down. Which is incredibly fortunate on the inhabitants behalf. Our little village has had enough of bombardment, but we’re still standing tall and strong.” Bryo noted.

“Does this village possess a name or is it just referred to as ‘village’?” Cotton asked snarkily.

Bryo frowned, “It’s called Grove Nook. Are you satisfied now? Did you earn the gratification of knowledge?”

Cotton flashed a cheeky grin, “Never been more elated to know your hometown.”

Bryo scoffed and turned to Euka, “What of you? Where do you live?”

“I’m of Ember Twin origins, no doubt. You can see it in my mannerisms.” Euka gleefully shared.

“...You can tell?” She grimaced.

“Can’t everyone? Cotton?” He turned to his close ally for validation.

Cotton looked at him as if he were speaking another language.

“Damn you, you Cottonball.” He muttered.

“I gave you the best response I could manage, and you still want to be mad? Do not waste your energy on such trivial things.” Cotton countered. “Also you don’t get to call me by my nickname. That is exclusive to my sister only.”

“That’s your alias? What?” Euka sputtered wildly, ever more confused.

“Is there a problem that you have with it? Mind your concerns, Euka!”

Bryo could only watch helplessly and hopelessly as the two boys argued over the most idiotic things she had ever heard. Glancing behind her, she noticed many Nomai were gathering in small groups for dancing.

She snapped at them, getting their attention.

“Hey, you two, everyone is going to be dancing soon. Do you wish to join them in relative harmony and musical parties?”

Cotton halted right in the middle of his insults, his mouth agape.

“Why wouldn’t I, Miss Bryo? Come along Euka, I believe the three of us should indulge in a fun activity.”

“You have read my subconscious, Cotton. I will gladly join you and whomever else to dance.” Euka smiled coyly.

Cotton moved his sights to Bryo as he stood up and offered his hand. Even though she hesitated for a second, her hand reached up to his without much thought. The boy couldn’t contain his joy any longer and started bouncing in place, pulling his new friends into a circle and spinning around. A choir of Nomai and a small band of percussive and woodwind instruments set a jovial mood for all to enjoy and partake in. From there, the night shall reign as the three strengthened their bond


	8. Chapter Eight- Finished to Completion

The sun peeked through the heavy clouds, hitting his eyelids hard. Cotton fluttered his eyes, waking up to sounds of thunder and lightning. To either side of him were Euka and Bryo, huddled up against him.

To himself, he thought, “ _What did I do? What went wrong? Didn’t we just bicker last night? I could have sworn that we were dancing a second ago_.”

Cotton felt pinned down, like he shouldn’t move, not even his head. Yet, here he was, watching the rain pitter-patter on the glass roof covering the whole island. Beams of sunlight shining through the stained glass, such as gleams of blue, green, and yellow.

“Oi.” He slipped out.

“Yes, Cotton?” Euka replied.

“I didn’t want you to wake up, are we even on the floor?” Cotton mumbled.

“We’re in a dune, Cotton. You dragged us in here, held us hostage.” Euka snickered.

“My bad. I hope my clothes don’t get all filled with sand.”

“Mine too.” Euka yawned.

Bryo got up from her slumber and gazed all around, eyes half open. Many other Nomai had the same idea as them, some from last night collapsed right where they ended, and others were huddled in piles as well.

“Ugh.” She said.

“It could be worse, I mean, we’re lucky that no cyclones got the idea to send us into orbit.” Cotton expressed, laying a hand on her shoulder.

Bryo groaned and looked out onto the sea, she squinted.

“Is that what that is, coming right for us?”

“Damn it, you’re right. Come on now, no time to waste!” Cotton stood straight up and dragged Euka and Bryo over to the stasis pod.

Other Nomai woke up, steady and alert, as the sound of howling wind hovered closer to the island, and ran over to the pods. The cyclone swirled and twirled, the gusts of wind sucking up the island and hoisting it beyond the clouds of Giant’s Deep. The island floated ever so slightly above the planet until the forces of gravity pulled it back in, slamming it onto the water.

“THAT was awful, never again!” Bryo spat.

“Wish I share that sentiment myself, Bryo, but I’m stuck here for as long as I live.” Cotton grimaced.

“It is one way to wake up, however.” Euka noted, “But, now it’s time to go. Cotton, we need to bring over the statue to the Construction Yard so that they can install it to the Probe Tracking Module.”

“You are quite right, friend. Bryo, do you wish to view the installation of the memory statue with us?” Cotton suggested.

“Why wouldn’t I? It appears to be an intriguing enough prospect for me to examine.” She enthused.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Retrieving the statue from Phlox’s workshop, Euka and Cotton lifted it into a small boat to be pushed along the current of the ocean. Dipping themselves into the water, they guided the boat over to the Construction Yard, paddling against the waves. They waved at the Crew to get their attention and help them pull up the statue. They docked themselves onto the gravity path to get over to the cave and settle the bust onto the floor.

“My goodness, this thing weighs a metric ton. Surely it won’t be too much to handle when boarding it onto the module, Cassava?” Cotton said.

“Of course not, my boy! In fact, with someone of your size and stature, would you be interested in helping us carry it in?” Cassava opted.

“I- I would be honored. Just keep in mind, I’m not the greatest when it comes to traversing the Construction Yard.” Cotton stammered.

“No worries, friend. The entrance to the module is quite easy to climb into, it’s just a hole in the side.”

Cotton gazed at the massive glass encasement, fantasizing about the contents inside and all that it could offer. Fortunately, for him, he wouldn’t have to use his imagination much longer.

Euka set a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, remember to record your observations, okay? I want to know what’s inside, and I believe Bryo does too.”

“This is true.” She piped up.

Cotton chuckled and reached over to pet her. She grabbed his hand and held it in hers, a smile in return.

Euka earnestly grabbed Cotton’s hand as well and gave him a cheeky grin.

“Okay, okay. Now is not the time for a hand holding convention. I have a very important job to do.” Cotton pulled his hands away.

“I’m ready.”

Cotton climbed up the gravity path to align himself with the entrance. The other crew members followed closely behind, the statue in load. Crawling in, he took the top half of the bust and gently guided it to the door. Moving the marble to open it, the door unsealed itself, and Cotton slid through the hole, taking the statue with it. He plopped onto the gravity floor as the others pushed through with the statue.

“Alright, where are we meant to install it?” Cotton inquired.

“Above you.” Privet pointed.

“Ah, so it is.” Cotton looked up.

Privet guided the statue and herself over to the crystal pad, Cotton followed suit. The pad flipped gravity’s perspective and threw her above, taking both Cotton and the statue with her. She landed and rolled the statue upright, “Take it to the west flank, Cotton.”

“Of course.” He spun it around and took a few cautious steps backward until his back hit the window. He set it down with Privet’s help, clicking it into place.

“Well done, friend. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to send a few outgoing messages to all stations.” Privet excused herself.

“Go ahead, I’ll be waiting for you at the door.” Cotton affirmed.

While Privet tended to the text wall, Cotton hopped to the door and sat on the lip of the exit, joyfully watching her write. He needed to make a few notes for himself too, so he took out a slab and utensil and got to work.

Meanwhile, Privet had just finished her conversation with Yarrow at the Ash Twin. Putting in the Launch Module plate, she discovered that Mallow had started the message already.

_{Mallow: Imagine, Privet: the Probe Tracking Module will be the first to know the coordinates of the Eye of the Universe! You’ll be the first to see them!}_

Privet chuckled and wrote her response.

_{Privet: I am honored and terrified!}_

_{Privet: You won’t ask the Orbital Probe Cannon to use so much power that it breaks, will you?}_

Privet anxiously awaited Mallow’s response, and to her dismay, that she did.

_{Mallow: Fret not, my nervous friend! We only need to fire the probe once, so who minds if it compromises the Orbital Probe Cannon’s structural integrity slightly?}_

Privet scoffed so loudly that Cotton could hear her, interrupting his period of notation.

_{Privet: I would mind, Mallow! I would mind, because we won't be capable of receiving our probe’s data if the Probe Tracking Module is destroyed!}_

And from there, Mallow left her. Privet was so angry at her, so frustrated, Cotton could sense it.

“What happened, Privet?” He asked concernedly.

“Stupid Mallow, she just doesn’t comprehend the consequences of her actions and words. How does she think without a brain?” Privet chewed her out.

“Do tell the specifics, please.” Cotton leaned in.

“She’s trying to launch the probe with so much power that the Orbital Probe Cannon falls apart, broken to the point it is rendered useless! I don’t condone her actions, not one bit. I swear, her and Avens are an absolute horror of a couple.”

“Shall we inform Cassava about this?”

“There’s no point in it. Cassava and Daz already know that those two are going to cause chaos, and it’s not really their profession to program the Cannon. I fear we will fail this one as well.” Privet moped, walking over to the door.

“Ah, well, the Sun Station should be a new beacon of light for us. I don’t know much about it, but it appears to be promising!” Cotton enthused, exiting the module.

“I wouldn’t be too thrilled about it, to be honest. Even though it’s still being debated, and its construction shall be planned many years ahead, I already know of its fate.” She mused, staying within the module itself.

“You’re not coming?”

“I have a job to do, Cotton, I must stay with the module so I can install it. I will see you soon.” Privet saluted.

“Very well then, stay safe and secure, friend.”

Cotton stayed in respectful silence, and stood back from the rings of which held the Probe Tracking Module. Cassava and Daz grabbed two large poles and pushed with all their might, the Module, out into the sea. The module drifted out and onward, seemingly set on being picked up by a cyclone. The crew nodded succinctly and went to record the last of the data on a scroll.

“So, the module, how was it?” Inquired Euka.

“It was simply fascinating, here are the notes I took.” Cotton passed on a slab to Euka and Bryo.

“This is amazing, Cotton. So you had to install the statue on west flank, I’m supposing that it got wired immediately, and there’s a ring that carries a marble to a port, each with their own story to tell. Hmm, very good.” Euka smiled.

“Yes, I’m curious, what do they remark to you?” Bryo asked.

“It’s simply just the data acquired by the probe alongside its journey, it will obtain as much information on finding the Eye as it can and send it to us.” Cotton informed excitedly.

A loud wave burst up not far from them, the module had been sent up through the sky to the cannon. Cheers could be heard from the main lobby as they watched it disappear behind the clouds. As the Nomai in the cannon brought the Probe Tracking Module closer, they welded it to the airlock, tight and secure. Privet looked over the module, checking its status and went over to program the statue into the system. She left the module and kept herself steady, floating in the cannon’s center. Everything was sound, and the cannon was complete. No more grievances were to be had.


	9. Chapter Nine- A Drop of Force

Reaching the Arching Isles, he sought out his sister for a spout of unconditional conversation. He barged into his house to find Lima passed out on the bed, sprawled out like a branching tree. Cotton sneaked over to her as quietly as possible, poised to strike, and dug his hands into her belly, tickling her savagely. She woke up abruptly, laughing and crying as she fought back in an attempt to save her skin.

“Cot! Stoooop!” She giggled uncontrollably.

“You left yourself out in the open, what did you expect?” He justified.

“A good night’s rest, hopefully?” She sighed.

“You’re not wrong, I quite agree with that statement as well…” He teasingly crouched over her and slowly laid down on top, squishing her flat.

“You’re also crushing my lungs, I’m going to die before you even fall asleep.” She choked out.

“Oh no! Can’t have that happening.” He smirked as he sank further down into her.

“Cot- I’m serious. You’re too heavy, you’re not a baby anymore.”

“Okay, fine.” Cotton lifted himself up from the bed.

Lima took a deep breath and coughed up half her guts. Cotton patted her back to help her out. He took a seat next to her, pulling her close in his grasp.

“So-” He started.

“So?” She swung her head over to him, an eyebrow raised.

“The statue was installed into the Probe Tracking Module today.”

“That’s great!”

“I know, it’s fantastic!” Cotton continued.

“Finally. I’m assuming you’ll need something to occupy yourself with at the moment?”

“Do you want to do the experiments? The collars are all set up.” Cotton asked, getting up from the bed.

“I was thinking that you should partake in the quantum pilgrimage, finally. You’ve had all this time to do it, but every. Single. TIME. You said, ‘No, I’m too busy.’, ‘No, I don’t feel so good.’, ‘No, I don’t want to.’. No, no, no. It’s all you said for years! I was starting to think you had a tumor in your brain from how many times the word ‘no’ filled your vocabulary.” She chastised him.

“I _will_ do it when this experiment is over. I want to make sure that I’m not needed elsewhere or that I have any unfinished work.” He whined.

“It’s been THREE years, Cot. I don’t think anything else can hold you back. If you want to do the experiment so badly, we can start tomorrow morning.” She laid back in her bed, arms crossed.

“Are you mad at me?” Cotton quizzed.

“Just a little, Cottonball. I get this way sometimes, not because of you, but because of me. I have a problem, Cot.” Lima relayed.

“Have we not already gone over this? I know, I know, Beans. I wish I could help you in some way.”

“Don’t bother with such assistance. Have I gotten this far by accepting help? Never, and I’m not starting any time soon. Goodnight, Cotton.” She closed her eyes tightly and rolled away from Cotton to face the wall.

“Have it your way, then.” Cotton put himself to sleep, eyes open for a few moments before dozing off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Sun swung itself high in the sky, glaring through the glass roof to taunt him. He stared back, not pleased, not excited, just dread. The day had come forth to strangle him in his hubris, or so he perceived. Rising from his bed, he stood in relative silence, watching his sister breathe so peacefully. She’ll be ecstatic to participate in the experiment for sure, but Cotton couldn’t shake the feeling of unexplained fear.

He put on a joyful demeanor and gently shook his sister awake.

“Today is that day, Lima. How do you feel?”

“Very nervous actually.” She pouted.

“So it’s not just me who is experiencing these feelings.” He muttered.

“But, it’s not much of a big deal. I just need to be very cautious in my preparations. You need to bring out the collars, however, if we want to begin and get it over with.” Lima got up from her bed and went outside to gather the participants.

Cotton rushed downstairs to the workshop and retrieved many air collars, already bloomed and hydrated. Coming back to the atrium, Cotton passed an air collar to each of the Nomai who were brave enough to sacrifice themselves to science. That is until he came to Lima, who was equally as hesitant to take the collar as he was to give it to her.

The Nomai in question quickly put on a smile and nabbed the collar from Cotton, confidently putting it on.

“Ah, no worries, Cot. I know what I’m doing, I think.” Lima smirked unassuredly.

“You better. I’m counting on all of you to protect yourselves at all costs. Remember this: if you find yourself hurtling down to the planet without any place to land safely, please guide yourself to the water, it’s safer there.” Cotton announced to his runners.

“So where are we meant to launch?” Lima asked.

“Over on the island of caves and hills, it’s empty, it’s perfect.” He pointed over to an island that drifted nearby.

Leading the group down the side of Arching Isles and over to the shore, all with their collars on. Cotton brandished his own collar, yellow and glistening. They dipped into the choppy water, waves crashing against them, spilling into their mouths and splashing into their eyes.

“Just hold on a moment longer, we’re nearly there, friends!” Cotton yelled out, paddling over to the island with all his strength.

He climbed up onto the shore, waiting for the others to catch up so he could help them. One by one, the Nomai clambered upon the island, some started to wander around and explore the area. There were trees abound at the back of the island, swaying in the winds of the Giant’s Deep. It was prime weather for a launch, indeed.

“Wait, Cotton… Are you coming with us, too?” Lima looked concerned.

“Yes.” His heart pounded, climbing up through his throat just thinking about the launch.

“You absolute idiot, I love you still the same.” She scoffed.

“I get it from you, Beans.” He side-eyed her playfully.

The siblings turned towards the horizon as the cyclone chased after them, spinning and gripping anything in its way. Cotton closed his eyes and let the sounds of roaring twisters consume him.

He opened his eyes in a flurry as the forces of gravity switched up on him and grabbed his collar. Lima grinned widely and spread out her arms, spinning around in the void of space. Her collar was loosely wrapped around her neck, but as the island began to drop back down towards the planet, the collar slowly slipped off and flew away from Lima. She tried everything to reach for the collar, but no further attempts made any progress. Lima choked, her vision going blurry to dark as the world faded out of her sight.

The island penetrated the atmosphere, quickly descending to the sea. Everything slowed down for Cotton as he tried to reach his airless sister, but as the ground came closer and closer, things sped back up as he cried out and he rolled out of the way, into the water.

“LIMA!”

The last image he saw with his very eyes was the scene of his sister slamming onto the ground, her body flattening with the force of gravity as bones crunched and blood leaked out.

The waves blinded him, he gripped his collar with one hand, using the other arm to swim back to the shore. He could hear distant screams through the water, Cotton swam faster and faster. With the last of his energy, he grappled the edge of the island and dragged himself onto it, gasping for breath as he huddled next to his collar for air.

He rolled his head over to see the still body of a Nomai surrounded by others. Some of the other Nomai noticed Cotton on the beach and helped him up. As he got a broader perspective, he saw that a few other Nomai weren’t lucky at all. Mangled bodies were spread out all over the beach as some Nomai hunched over them, grieving senselessly for their lives. Cotton felt sick to his stomach, his vision blurry, and his brain pounded on his skull, leaving him disoriented and nauseous.

“Cotton! Cotton!” A Nomai shook him to his senses. “It- it’s your sister! Lima- She didn’t, she didn’t make it!”

“Wha-, I- What? Where is she? Everyone, they’re all…” He slurred his words, tumbling around on his two feet.

The Nomai who informed him gently guided him to where Lima laid, shattered and pale. Cotton collapsed to his knees and crawled over to her, shaking with tears streaming down his face. Leaning over her, he picked her up in his arms and cradled her, squeezing her tight as he sobbed. All the other Nomai joined him in his grief, huddling close to him for comfort. It was a morning that day, a morning that brought mourning, and painted the sands red. The boy felt like a soul in purgatory, he wanted to leave, but his body lingered in the hurt.

Cotton never wanted to let go.


	10. Chapter Ten- The Quantum Search

He returned to the Arching Isles with his colleagues in tow and carrying the Nomai who’ve perished in their arms. Although he remained stoic, the tears kept flowing down his face, and his breath hitched uncontrollably. They climbed to the very top of the island, across the bridge to where the warp was. Settling the Nomai down unto the sand, the others said their last goodbyes to them and covered them up with the sand, deeply buried within nature.

Cotton distanced himself from the rest of the crowd, a simmering rage filled him, yet drowned out by pure sorrow. He spotted Bryo amongst the other Nomai and got her attention.

“Cotton, I- I’m very sorry for her. She seemed like a wise and brave Nomai, with a side of daring to complete it.” Bryo shared her condolences.

“Can we go farther away from the burial site? I want more space right now, and with you of course.” Cotton stammered, hiccuping in his voice.

“Absolutely, we’ll go to your dwelling then.” She complied.

The two of them made their stroll over to Cotton’s loft, sticking to each other like adhesive. As soon as they entered his house, Cotton darted for his bed, barely making it there as he fell onto the side of it, shaking in misery.

“It was all my fault, Bryo!” He cried out, heaving in breath.

“Woah, woah, woah! Cotton…” She rushed over to his side.

“...All my fault, I killed her-” He was curled onto the bed, many tears staining the stone.

“Cotton! Look at me.” She pulled his face over to face her. “You are not responsible for her death! It was an accident, not intention.”

“How… do.. you- How?” He choked on air.

“I was watching from the cliffs of Arching Isles, I saw every bit of it, Cotton.” She consoled him, hands cupping his face.

“I want her back! I just want to say I’m sorry!” He howled.

“I know, darling, I know. I’m so sorry about this, Cotton.” Bryo held him close, rocking him from side to side.

He quieted down after a few minutes of embrace, nearly passed out onto Bryo’s shoulder. Bryo chuckled as she let go, taking a look at his exhausted face.

“Are you well?” She asked in concern for the young Nomai.

“No, I’m… very sore all over, and I’m overwhelmed by the stakes of life. I just want this to be over.” He said, looking at the wall behind her.

“Cotton, is it okay if I make a home here? I have nowhere to stay while I’m stationed on Giant’s Deep.” Bryo implored deeply.

“Of course you can stay here. You can take Lima’s bed… I just can’t believe any of this is happening.” Cotton tucked in his knees as he sat on his bed.

“I can’t believe it either, and to think if I had been there, there would have been nothing I could have done to help. What am I going to do as a shaman if everything eventually leads to demise?” Bryo lamented.

“You have nothing to worry about, Bryo. Perhaps you’ll be the shaman of unprecedented proportions, healing even the most fatal wounds and be their light back to the world of the living.” Cotton mused one last time before resting his eyes.

Bryo entertained that thought as she went to sleep, dreaming of a thousand possibilities until she reached her peak.

“I wish it were true, friend.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bryo’s eyes sprung open, her body leaned forward in a spur of motion as she awoke. She did not know what caused it. Perhaps an unpleasant dream or an outside force. Whatever the case be, she noticed that Cotton had long gone from the house. Right beside his bed was a note written on the wall. She got up to examine what it had to say.

_{Cotton: Dear Bryo, if you are pondering my whereabouts, do not fear the worst. I have taken my sister’s request and I am fulfilling my quest to the Quantum Moon.}_

_{Cotton: I posit I will be gone for a while, so please take care of yourself, and the house as well. We will meet again, just look to the skies!}_

The room stilled with lonesome melancholy. Bryo never knew that Cotton hadn’t even gone on his quantum pilgrimage yet.

“What could he have been doing that prolonged his journey?” She muttered to herself.

“I mean, where could he even be in the solar system at this moment?”

Cotton stared down the Tower of Quantum Trials with an expression of determination, fists clenched. He first explored the edges of the island and the pool at the base of the structure. Concluding that there was nothing else of importance, he made his trek up the ramp and to the gravity lift. Cotton never saw such a ginormous building in his life, it took him nearly half a minute to get to the top.

Stepping onto the platform, he noted an arch and a sign next to it. He read what the sign had to tell him.

_{Enter this place without friends, however; these are lessons to learn for yourself.}_

“Done.” Cotton quipped, and hopped into the hole.

The lift gently carried him down and set him on the pad. This was the first trial.

_{Seek the wandering arch.}_

Cotton searched around the room to look for the arch that he could’ve sworn was in front of him. He felt like he was going around in circles until he saw the arch in the corner of his eye. He stopped and focused all of his attention on it, not daring to let anything else distract him. Cotton walked towards it and dropped down into the hole. The second trial has begun.

_{Observing a quantum object; observing an image of a quantum object. These are the same.}_

Using the camera from his mask that he removed and engineered into a screen, he took a photo of the arch, and walked up the stairs to it. Once again, he fell down the hole to the next trial; the third trial shall begin.

_{The arch and the crystal do not naturally meet.}_

“Hmm. Crystal? Like the one we have on the side of Arching Isles, I presume?” He assumed.

Looking at the wall, he observed a purple, humming crystal pinned to it.

“I was correct.”

He took a photo of the crystal and walked up the wall, hoping that the arch would be there. To his disappointment, it was not. Cotton started to get frustrated with the “lesson”, and hopped down the wall. The arch was on a different platform than the crystal, but they aren’t meant to exist naturally with each other. How was he going to get them to pair up?

He spun around and ‘round, in hopes that the two will somehow meet in life. Nothing. He took a photo of the crystal and proceeded to twirl around like a cyclone of the Deep. There it was! The two were in the same place! Cotton ran up to the crystal and over the wall. He found nothing at the top. He realized he had forgotten to take another photo, leaving him betrayed and furious.

Eventually, he got the hang of it after a few minutes. The final trial was at hand.

_{This is the last one (but we made it harder).}_

“I truly commend you, O’ great teachers of the quantum cycle.” Cotton snarked.

He scaled the height of the wall and the two crystals that climbed it. The principles of the last trial carried over to this one. He looked away until one of the crystals was closest to the floor, took a picture, and climbed up to the next crystal. Taking a safety picture of the crystal, he spun around until the final crystal was within his reach. From there, he reached the top of the wall, only for the arch to be on the other side.

“Is this a joke?” He groaned.

Cotton blinked repetitively until the arch was on his side. He jumped down and found himself at the end of it all. There was the rock that occasionally greeted him at every interval room before the next trial. But there was one last message to send him off on the large slab in front of the hole. The message was surrounded by two suited Nomai on either side, pointing at the symbol of the Quantum Moon.

_{We offer our congratulations! You’ve learned the rule of quantum imaging. Take this knowledge with you on the remainder of your quantum pilgrimage.}_

_{Remember, the other quantum shards have other lessons to teach.}_

_{Our curiosity goes with you on your journey. You walk in the footsteps of those who came before you, and your path guides those who will follow later.}_

Before he realized it, Cotton fell to his knees and let a long and heavy sigh. His only desire would have been to tell his sister that he was doing what she asked of him, that he was participating in Nomain culture for once.

Cotton got up and faced the final hole and dove right in, making contact with the water. At the bottom of the pool was the symbol for the Quantum Moon, he could see. He got out of the pool and stood at the edge of the island, observing the world in a new perspective.

One down, two to go.


	11. Chapter Eleven- Shifting Turmoil

Bryo wandered around the Arching Isles, analyzing all the plant forms for healing properties. She noted a few specimens that were impeccable examples of self-healing abilities and gathered samples to bring back for synthesis. She recognized that Cotton would be gone for some time, but she had only a few more days until she was required to come back to Brittle Hollow. After a while, she specified over ten species of plants on Giant’s Deep total, which wasn’t too surprising seeing as it was mainly water. She spent the next two days chatting with the other Nomai who lived on the island, getting to know them and befriend them.

But then her departure day came sooner than she realized. That’s when she had to leave for her home, and leave her new friends behind. And Cotton, Cotton wasn’t coming back anytime soon, so she left a note on his wall.

_ { _ _ Bryo: I’m leaving on this day, three days after you left. I must return to Brittle Hollow, as my time is up. _ _ } _

_ { _ _ Bryo: Knowing as I’m an apprentice to a shaman, I shall only strive for greatness. But, I will also keep you in my thoughts. I adored the advice you gave me, and I will apply it heavily in my work. _ _ } _

_{_ _Bryo:_ _Salutations, friend. We will see each other again, like you said, look to the skies._ _}_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The day had come, Cotton had completed all of his quantum lessons and was ready to depart to the Quantum Moon. However, he hadn’t returned to his home in ages, and he wanted to do that before he faced the Moon. He warped to the Ash Twin and then to Giant’s Deep, the Arching Isles. He ran over to his home to find that it was completely empty, Bryo had left, but he did find her note.

“Oh, Bryo… I do hope we see each other again. I’m scared.” Cotton whispered.

But he had no time to waste, he was tired letting things linger too long in his conscious. Cotton ran back to the charged warp and went to Ash Twin and back to Brittle Hollow, making his way over to the gravity cannon. The shuttle stood tall and immaculate upon the launch pad. Even though he wanted someone else to pilot the shuttle, he knew he must go alone. What he knew was this: The left slot was to launch, the middle slot was to warp back, and the right slot was to land when close.

Finally, he was ready to embark on the most important expedition of his life. Cotton looked to the skies, waiting for the Quantum Moon to pass overhead, and moved the marble to the left slot, hoisting the shuttle forward. In a split second, he moved the marble to the right slot after taking a picture of the moon, and let the transport ship descend onto the celestial body.

The foggy atmos enveloped the shuttle, taking it to the south pole. The shuttle landed with a  _ thud _ , bouncing Cotton around as he barely held onto the control panel. The Nomai exited his ship and stepped on the icy pole of the moon, the place reflected the planet Brittle Hollow at its current position. There were columns of stalactites and stalagmites that flickered in every spot whenever Cotton blinked, but all he cared about was locating the shrine.

A large tower that disappeared in the clouds stood in the area, close to the cliffside border. Cotton opened the door and went inside, turning on the light. As the light turned on, three notes spiraled out next to their respective diagrams.

_ { _ _ You have recalled the rule of quantum imaging. _ _ } _

_ { _ _ Recall the rule of quantum entanglement. _ _ } _

_ { _ _ Recall the rule of the sixth location. _ _ } _

He recalled these principles within his mind, seeing them clearly, and from there, the path was spelled out for him. He had to shut off all lights, close the door, and let the shrine carry him to another world. The lights turned on, and he found himself at Giant’s Deep. With that, he opened the door and traveled to the north pole, the shrine already awaiting him. He went in, cut off the light, switched it on and off many times until he got to the very end, the Sixth Location. The slider stopped on the far right, the symbol that everyone recognized as the Eye of the Universe. 

A distinct sound of blistering winds and foreign lightning, much unlike his home, permeated the essence, weighing him down. With hesitance, he moved the marble to open the door, to let himself gaze upon this alien phenomenon. At first, the moon was dark, nearly as dark as the shrine, but as his eyes adjusted to the light spectrum, the world lit up. Cotton left the shrine one last time, into a land of swirling and iridescent rock, bound to flicker out of existence at any moment. There was only one place left to go, all the way back to the south. 

The further he went down, the more the clouds began to ripple and cave in. Then, at the very top, the atmosphere formed a spiraling tunnel to the heavens. 

“This is… not right. None of this is true, I’ve lost it. It wishes to torment me.” Cotton broke down, sitting himself down under the stone arch.

“Nothing but storms, nothing but torture…” His heart shattered.

To him, this wasn’t about where the shrine carried him, it was about what the place meant to him. It was too much like home, yet not close enough, only a vague combination of the worlds, set up to taunt his memory. Memory… There was nothing else like it. It was memory that kept the Nomai strong, the retention of knowledge that compelled them. However, memory became his ultimate enemy. Yet, he was cursed with it, and the moon knew it and took advantage of him.

“Do you wish for me to jump in there? Is that what you desire, O’ great Phantom of the universe?” He spoke aloud. 

Cotton got up from his resting spot, tired of his feelings pulling him away from the obvious objective.

“Very well then. You get what you want.” He snarled and braced himself.

The young and determined Nomai climbed the stone arch, closing in the distance between him and the opaque skies, so close to touch. Coiling his legs, he sprouted upward, flying into the tunnel. It took him and dropped him right into a splash of water. The clouds cleared and he was brought right back to Giant’s Deep, his sister’s wretched grave.

“I knew you were sinister, but this is just cruel. How could you do this to me, Phantom? What does this mean, I can’t understand your motivations? I have nothing but resent for you.” He spat at the air, in hopeless ignorance.

There was the shrine, waiting for him to come home. He walked towards it, closing the doors, and sat in his own darkness, letting the shrine do its dirty work.

“Take me away.”


	12. Chapter Twelve- Three Years Later

Three years passed since the quantum nightmare, Cotton’s last point of solace, and he couldn’t get it out of his head. The Orbital Probe Cannon had been put on indefinite hiatus, the statue workshop has been declared defunct, yet Phlox still worked on his crafts, and the air collars went into their final stages. And even though it was panned by the popular majority, the Sun Station was set to be constructed in two months. Half of the Construction Yard crew left to Ember Twin to assist in the production. It was just Cotton and his island solitude to accompany him.

He often debated taking more trips to Euka’s home, after all, it had been a few weeks since his last voyage. Bryo and her village evacuated to other places in the solar system due to the Hollow’s Lantern having fits of rage and spewing lava all over the surface. She refused to move to the Hanging City, so she took refuge at the Sunless City on Ember Twin, sticking with Euka the entire time.

Cotton supposed that it would only be appropriate to join them, seeing as how much Giant’s Deep admittedly haunted him to no end. But, Cotton was determined to solve a mystery, something that plagued him since the tragedy. If the memory statues were meant to be a conduit for the Ash Twin Project, a device meant to send information back in time, then what would it take to go far enough back that he could retrieve his sister, Lima? He could set her up with a statue, an efficient failsafe that shall be activated in the measurement of success or failure, as he read of Phlox’s notes, then, no matter what, Lima shall continue on.

Or at least, that’s what he presumed. It was apparent that Cotton had no idea how the statues functioned, nor how the Ash Twin Project was supposed to send data back in time, especially in the association of energy with time. This type of science never appealed to him, not until recently, but even then it was not his field of study either.

“What am I doing to myself here? I’m 22 years old, and already worrying about the future.” He mumbled tiredly to himself.

Cotton stormed out of his house in a spur of frustration and went straight to the warp. If anything was going to continue as normally, he needed to take control of the situation, even if it meant to force yourself to get out of the house every once and awhile. With a face of begrudging grumpiness and crossed arms, he marched right over to the Ember Twin warp. The final rendition of the localized air collar he sported around his neck gave him substantial comfort, seeing as he made sure to add a locking mechanism this time.

Arriving on Ember Twin, Cotton set his sights for the Sunless City, a place that held him tighter than the stasis pods on the Deep. The lift took him down, and he traversed the cavernous tunnels, reaching the door in a matter of minutes, a new personal record on his behalf.

He entered the city grounds with pride and kept a lookout for his beloveds, Euka and Bryo.

“Ah, of course, the Eye Shrine.” He noted.

Cotton made his way over to the shrine, carefully hopping around and climbing many stairs. He was certainly grateful that the gravity on Ember Twin made such things even possible. Euka and Bryo were at their communal table, discussing the fate of their worlds. They stopped as soon as Cotton walked up to them.

“Cottonfluff! How are you, darling?” Euka greeted with his deep, booming voice.

“I’m doing as much as I can to get by. How of you?” Cotton embraced his love, giving kisses on either cheek.

“Now, now, where’s my affection?” Bryo stood by, giving Cotton a healthy amount of sass.

“I shall never forget you, love. Come here!” He lifted her up, and spun her around.

“See, I’m capable of multi-love!” Cotton smarmed.

“But can you handle both of us at the same time?” Euka launched himself at Cotton, all while he was still holding Bryo.

Cotton nearly fell over from the imbalance of weight, but somehow, he managed to carry both in his arms. He did find it necessary to sit down after a bit.

“Okay, you win, both of you outmatch me.” Cotton strained himself.

“I believed it so.” Bryo teased.

“So, are you finally willing to move in with us now?” Euka quizzed.

“I want so badly to confirm it, but…”

“At this point, you’ve imprisoned yourself on your own planet. Please, don’t make yourself stay there any longer than you need to.” Bryo chastised.

“I hold out hope that I can do what I need to do!” Cotton insisted.

“Which is...?” Euka waited for an answer.

Cotton kept his mouth shut, avoiding eye contact.

“Hypothesis: You’re keeping it a surprise.” Euka suggested.

“Absolutely, I am!” Cotton nodded in agreement.

“Will you ever reveal that surprise is what I’m concerned about?” Bryo put her hands on her hips.

“Let’s come together to agree that I don’t always need to share useless information.”

“So why even bother with telling us otherwise?” Euka argued.

“Peer pressure.” Cotton blurted out.

Euka burst out laughing out of the blue, Bryo gave Cotton the side-eye.

“My dear Cotton, that’s no excuse for such trivial diversions. I’m of the belief that there are no real excuses for anything in life, just reasons. Please, just let it melt off of you. From the moment you let peace into your life, is the moment you’ll finally find your purpose in life. Well, that’s what I think, anyway.” Euka philosophized.

“Is that what you call ‘philosophy’? In all honesty, it needs work, lots of it.” Bryo criticized.

“I’m still learning, no need to judge me off of scraps.” He pouted.

“Regardless of your experience in emotionally compromised phrases, I was wondering what you two were planning today. Perhaps we can prepare a cruise around the solar system in a shuttle for a moment? It’s not like they’re terribly popular as of recent.” Cotton proposed.

“It is an idea, one based on entertainment and scientific curiosity.” Euka enthused.

“You’re not even making any theoretical sense anymore, Euka. Take a break from the words of wisdom, no one needs them right now.” Bryo cringed, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. “Listen, Cot. I’m one hundred percent on board with your idea, but must we bring Mr. I-can’t-seem-to-speak-in-a-normal-vernacular?”

“He’s a part of the triad, we must not leave each other behind. Plus, you must admit, he’s trying his best. It’s quite endearing and puts my heart at ease.” Cotton gushed.

“Well then, we’re off to the gravity cannon!” Bryo cheered.

The three went up to the highest door in the city, the one that led to the cannon, and hopped across. Cotton summoned the shuttle home, the white hole dropping it in place for them to board. Everyone lifted themselves inside, while Cotton took the panel for himself.

“Actually,” He paused. “Does anyone else want to fly the shuttle this time?”

“That would be me.” Euka volunteered.

“Be my guest.”

Euka gladly stepped up and slid the marble to the left slot; the shuttle lurched forward, taking flight. They flew past the Sun in a matter of seconds, the flaming heat caressing their fur.

“So, in relevance to the Sun, the Sun Station is in its pre-production stages as we speak. What are your opinions on the matter?” Cotton started.

“It’s not of much importance to me, when voting for it, I decided to remain neutral on the subject. The concept is admittedly horrifying, but I trust in Pye and Idaea to set things in motion.” Euka gave his thoughts.

“I thought Idaea wasn’t on board with supporting the construction of the Sun Station?” Bryo said, puzzled.

“He wasn’t and still isn’t, but now he doesn’t have much of a choice. At least Yarrow keeps both of them in check, occasionally.” Euka confirmed.

“To let you know, I never knew what the true purpose of the Sun Station was. I know that it will be in a low orbit around the Sun, but for what reason remains unknown to me.” Cotton added.

“It’s a weapon, Cotton. It’s only purpose is to blow up the Sun so that the resulting energy is harnessed for the Ash Twin Project. I’m surprised that you never heard about it from the Nomai on Arching Isles.”

“...Oh. That’s rather morbid. What if it fails? Will we all perish and our effort has been for nothing?” Cotton feared.

“There’s no chance of failure, not when the best of all of us is involved in making it work.” Euka assured.

The shuttle was nearing Dark Bramble by the time they finished up discussion. The branching amalgamation of vines and thorns glared at them, the portals gaping their entrance to lure them in ever so slightly. But the ship went right through the vines and past the core.

“And this place… I have nothing but confliction towards it.” Bryo piped up.

“We all know that objectivity is essential to any Nomai’s opinion on Dark Bramble. To be indifferent is to deny the pain and suffering they went through when our clan crashed here.” Euka stated.

“It seems you lack an open mind, Euka. I know you’re trying, but in my strongest opinion, I have no resentment to Dark Bramble. I’ve never even been inside its hollow interior, much like how I am with Brittle Hollow. Dark Bramble shall never live in my mind the way it does for everyone else. I guess you can say that I’ve made peace with it, hmm?” She gestured to Euka.

“I don’t understand you at times, but that’s fine with me. I don’t _need_ to understand everything in the universe to live in it, nor do I appreciate you any less because of it.” Euka shrunk in place, his cheeks flushed as he turned back to the viewport.

“You are so awkward, Euka.” She giggled as she wrapped her arms around him.

Reaching the edge of the solar system, far beyond the white hole, they decided to warp back to the gravity cannon on Ember Twin. The black hole consumed the ship, the white hole settled them back home, and they departed from the shuttle, going back to the city.

Once back in the Sunless City, Euka led the others to the Anglerfish Overlook District, where all the dwellings were, and settled in for the night.

“Cot, do you wish to sleep over with us tonight? There’s plenty of room here and I hope you don’t mind a more co-ed living space than what you’re used to on Giant’s Deep.” Euka asked.

“It will be a first for me, no matter what, but I like new experiences from time to time. Giant’s Deep had me by the horns for years now.” Cotton got into the bed across from Euka and Bryo. “I need a break from the storms.”

“We’re grateful to have you, love. Dream lightly, Cotton.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wake up, friend. A meal is upon us!”

Cotton spurred awake to find Euka hovering over him and Bryo holding his hand.

“A meal? Oh stars, I’ve forgotten what food tastes like. Will this meal teach me to use my tongue again?” Cotton mumbled in half-asleep speech.

“Yes. Now come with us, this meal is made from ingredients imported from Timber Hearth!” Euka smiled wide, pulling Cotton out of bed.

Cotton, Euka, and Bryo traveled to the Eye Shrine to grab some food, and sat down at the cafeteria. The pots were filled with various vegetation and an au jus broth from Giant’s Deep. The next serving platter held roasted ichthyoid from Timber Hearth, drizzled with a pungent sap and spice vinaigrette.

Each Nomai had bowls of soup and a plate of fish set before them, eating to their heart’s content. Cotton was never more ravenous than he was, sat before a grand meal with such decorum.

“At least it isn’t cactus stew for the nth time again.” Euka remarked.

“I wouldn’t mind a spot of that myself.” Cotton said softly.

“You’re mental if you think that cactus stew is a satisfying entrée.” Bryo inputted.

“I just think that cactus stew, in moderation, is a well-deserved appetizer.”

“Aside from that, Bryo, when will you be able to return to Grove Nook on Brittle Hollow?” Cotton inquired.

“It will be ages before any of us can return to the village. Teams from the Hanging City have been studying the Hollow’s Lantern, and reports say that the moon will rage on for at least three more months. I could care less, for I have found a less hazardous home here in the Sunless City. Euka and I were also wondering about something else, something more relevant between the three of us.” Bryo passed on to Euka.

“Most certainly we have discussed it many times, but we believe that, in time, our relationship shall be taken to the highest level. Cotton, what are your thoughts on unity?”

Cotton nearly choked on his food when Euka suggested that.

“Unity?” He gasped. “Unity… I’ve never heard such a concept between more than two Nomai. Is it even possible?”

“Nomai are renowned for pushing the boundaries, we should have zero barriers holding us back.” Euka grinned coyly.

“You two are the most bold Nomai around. Of course I’ll unite us!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Wait… You mean it? Truly?” Euka was shocked, never really believing that Cotton would agree to be unified.

“What am I to you?” Cotton scoffed.

“My love, one of three that shall never split.” Euka answered.

“So tell me, what is your conclusion?”

“I want to be with the both of you for all eternity.”

“And why would I not want the same?”

“Please don’t ask me why.” Euka blushed.

“Then we shall proceed, loves. I vote on having it take place on Giant’s Deep, there is something I’ve wanted to do for some time now.”

“Are you really going to have it take place on Giant’s Deep? After all that it has put you through?” Bryo questioned.

“I have learned to face my fears by letting them pass through me without resistance. I commingled with them, and from there, I can learn from them.”

“Wonderful, dear. But do tell us _when_ our unity shall commence?” Euka wondered.

“Uh, the day of… the Sun Station?” Cotton lilted.

“Brilliant, I’ve always wanted to be united on the exact day that the Sun is destroyed.” Bryo expressed, her sights turned off of Cotton.

“Why can’t we do anything normal for once? Like, why not plan it on Timber Hearth, the gentlest planet in all the system?” Euka argued.

“Just this one thing, please? We can watch the Sun go out as we finish up, and we’ll return right back to normal in no time.”

“Cotton!”

“Euka!”

“Enough you two! I will make the decision for us if you can’t do it yourselves.” Bryo intervened.

“Please do, I can’t stand to think about dying.” Euka passed it on to her.

“We can do it on Giant’s Deep, however, perhaps not on the day of the Sun Station. Can we do it earlier, please?” She pleaded.

Cotton pondered a moment, taking all consideration for the feelings of his partners. He came to a conclusion at last.

“Very well. We can unite in one month, on Arching Isles.” He concurred.

Euka sighed in relief, closing in for a loving embrace.

“Thank you so much.” He gave a small peck on his cheek.

“I’m glad to make you happy.”


	13. Chapter Thirteen- Plight of Discovery

A week passes by, Bryo felt as if she should wrap up on a few things that were necessary for her. The imagery of Dark Bramble ran through her mind, how she didn’t quite understand it. It seemed like she didn’t care about the tragedy of the Bramble, based on the conversation in the shuttle, but she just didn’t know much about it at all. Which she might have figured to have affected her opinion on it.

There was one place on Brittle Hollow that could theoretically give her the knowledge she seeks, that is if it weren’t for her fear of the black hole at the core. It was the Old Settlement, established right underneath the escape pod that crashed on the planet, that carried the trailhead for the journey of understanding.

She personally believed it to be trivial, but this was not about _her_ subjective view on the matter. A truth was out there, something she neglected to comprehend at first, even as a child. And she would have done it, again if it wasn’t for the black hole and its tendency to consume. But, if she was going to accomplish anything before unity, it shall be selfless compassion.

Approaching her fiance, Euka, she told him about her voyage of discovery.

“I must inform you of my departure, love. It’s a promise of sensitivity and empathy, one that I hope you can return!”

“This is certainly… new to me. How long shall you take?” Asked Euka.

“I _will_ be back before the day of unity, and I need you to carry this on to Cotton. I don’t need him having a stroke over my status of being MIA.” She added.

“I wish safety unto you only, and return a better individual than ever before.”

“And I will depend on it, I will. Salutations, Euka. Don’t let him cry again while I’m gone.” Bryo left the house, keeping her head high and spirits tethered.

Some part of her regrets the things she says always after she can’t take them back, but whose problem was that? Is that not the whole reason she left? To gain a better regard for herself?

She shook her head clear of these thoughts and continued on her merry way to the cannon. She shall not falter, nor doubt her capabilities in the middle of an extensive expedition requiring one hundred percent of her concentration.

A shuttle rested in the cannon, tall and gleaming, ready for passengers to board it. That’s exactly what she was going to do, no one could stop her, not even herself.

“I’m not stopping, I’m not stopping.” She muttered under her breath as she boarded the ship.

“I am launching!”

Bryo moved the marble to the left slot, affirming her actions in less than a second.

The shuttle veered towards a blank spot of the system, with Brittle Hollow nowhere in sight.

“I’ve already failed. What am I doing?” She warped back to the cannon, properly waiting for the planet to align.

“Okay, _now_ I’m launching.”

The trip only took under three minutes, and she landed on the surface of Brittle Hollow, conveniently next to the escape pod.

“No fear, no judgement, no doubt. It’s just history, something I lack. Or whatever…” She peered over the edge.

There were remnants of old platforms left for the Nomai who traveled down these impossible steeps, and they looked stable enough for cautionary trailing. Gently setting herself onto the first platform, she let go of the rock and weighed out the integrity of the crackling stone. She hopped from one to the other, wrapping around the cliff and traversing the path that once belonged to the past.

A lantern unlike any other highlighted a spot of safety and a message of warning.

_{Plume: Use caution! A black hole sleeps below. You must not slip.}_

“I am so truly grateful for your words of encouragement, long dead bearer of grave news.” She mocked.

The faint and eerie hum of the black hole knocked against the interior cavity of the planet, the warping of gravity affecting the ability to see. Bryo was certain that she was fated to faint at any time before she reached the Old Settlement. In her paranoia, she began to think of what this sector would have been named if they stayed long enough, or perhaps it was named and all titles it was granted passed into the forces of the void below. Names like ‘The Bough Web’ and ‘Seeker’s Branch’ came to mind, quite similar in nature, yet different enough for her.

The final obstacles came into frame, just the last few platforms in the way of crossing. Bryo took that leap of faith and landed securely onto the frail material. She opened her eyes and darted for stable land, not wanting to take her chances. Rounding the corner, she was greeted with an old text on the wall.

_{Plume: Of note: Be sure not to wander too far from here. Though this area is somewhat unstable, it’s safer than any we’ve found so far.}_

_{Plume: The temporary settlement is finished, but remember to be cautious of falling rocks and dust created by meteor impacts.}_

“We’ve been plenty aware of them, not to worry, old friend.”

Off to her right hung the Old Settlement, not all too aged in structural integrity, just merely frozen in time for now. A bright blue ink marked the inside of an abandoned building. Moving closer to examine it, she discovered it to be the symbol for the Eye with accompanying information underneath it.

“This notation occurred recently after they made contact… Interesting.”

_{Thatch: This knowledge is too dear to lose: Here is everything we can recall about the signal we encountered while aboard the Vessel.}_

_{Filix: The signal looked like an eye: round, with a circle at the center much like a pupil. (Suppose the signal was looking for something.)}_

_{Filix: The signal was older than the universe itself! This is the most significant detail.}_

_{Plume: No Nomai clan has ever encountered anything like it! How can anything in this universe be older than the universe itself?}_

_{Thatch: Imagine what rare and profound knowledge it might offer. We must find this Eye of the universe.}_

“I sincerely hope it will be worth it.” Bryo faltered.

She took the time to wander the stones of the desolate shelter, reading each and every message written in response to their distressing situation. So many ballads on the walls representing the pain and loss that these Nomai endured, and yet they persisted. The impact they had on her drowned out her worries of the danger that surrounded her. The blasts of meteors, the consumption of the black hole, and ever depleting air; they mattered not anymore.

Suddenly, she found herself in the footsteps of the founders. The reason the others even exist, it was due to their efforts and knowledge of the universe.

“I am such a dullard, aren’t I? It’s not enough to just stand by and listen, no, just experience them for yourself. You’ll figure it out, won’t you?” Bryo lamented, rambling to herself.

At the very bottom of the settlement lay a trio of murals, a lantern, and a tree of text. Each mural depicted a scene that occurred in sequence: One, the Vessel receives the signal. Two, the Vessel warped but in turn got ensnared into the tendrils of the Bramble. And lastly, three escape pods are launched in a desperate attempt to evade death, one leads to nowhere.

Opposite of the murals, texts marked the stone.

_{Thatch: I can’t understand. Why did the Vessel crash in that place?}_

_{Plume: Was the Vessel unwell in some way?}_

_{Filix: No, Annona and I checked before the warp, and the warp core and the navigation systems were both well.}_

_{Filix: We warped to follow that curious signal from the Eye of the universe. Where we arrived was wrong; it wasn’t where we tried to go.}_

_{Thatch: Suppose it wasn’t a problem with the Vessel, but with our destination.}_

_{Filix: I’m afraid for our friends in Escape Pod 3….}_

“Oh… no… Oh stars.” Feeling weak, Bryo leaned against the wall, her breath quickening.

“What am I doing here? I’m going to perish if I don’t leave right now.”

The black hole taunted her, coming ever closer to grab her in her fit of anxiety. In a panic, she fled the site, running along all the bridges and platforms, and jumping back up to the surface post-haste. Taking a rest next to the escape pod, she noticed a light coming from atop a hill, and something that emitted a faint wailing sound.

She found a note recorder quietly twinkling on the ground, and a distress beacon still in use. There was persistent doubt that anyone would hear it still. Bryo picked up the device and listened closely to it, dull voices permeating the air.

_“Is everyone unharmed?” Thatch said._

_“No one was badly injured from the escape pod’s impact. We’re incredibly fortunate.” Plume responded._

_“This is good news, at least. Has we heard from Escape Pod 2 or Escape Pod 3?”_

_“No, I… I’m unable to make contact. My equipment can hear the other two escape pods’ distress signals, however. If it’s any comfort, both pods must be structurally intact.” Filix speculated._

_“I’ll continue calling for them.”_

_“My gratitude. If we can-”_

_“Thatch, the moon is approaching again!” Plume sighted._

_“Everyone brace yourselves, swiftly! The volcanic moon has returned!”_

_“Be cautious of falling ash and debris!”_

_“...I believe the moon has passed.” Plume lilted._

_“This planet doesn’t appear eager to have guests. We are certainly unwelcome on its surface.” Filix said._

_“We need to find shelter, and quickly. The volcanic moon won’t be gone for long.” Thatch urged._

_“I observed several promising sites below the surface, but we’ll need to construct a way for everyone to climb safely down this cliff. Perhaps we could build platforms?”_

“You did good, friends. You did good.”


	14. Chapter Fourteen- Calm Before The Storm

Safely returning to Ember Twin, Bryo exited the ship and left for the Sunless City. She went straight to Euka’s section of the complex and crashed onto the bench.

“So, how were your travels?” Euka asked while writing notes for his thesis.

“It was awful, I despised every second of it, I don’t know why I went alone, but I learned things along the way. So, it wasn’t that bad, I think.” She droned on.

“Mhmm, you know, Cotton has been raving mad all day, missing you. Don’t know where he is now, but I’m sure once he comes back, he’ll dive right into your arms.”

“I have plenty to discuss with him when he does.”

Cotton was in the lobby of the Eye Shrine, tracing the details of the table as he sat by himself. He truly waited as long as he could for her return, might as well check in yet again if she has. He ran over to the housing complex where most of the Nomai lived and entered Euka’s section. Lo and behold, the third member of their triad was indeed back, and very tired.

He sprinted towards her and scooped her up in a loving embrace, twirling around ecstatically.

“Cotton. Cotton! Now is not the time for jovial celebration.” Bryo voiced.

“Oh, my apologies, Miss Bryo. Too much on my end.” He set her down.

“So tell me, Miss, what did you learn on your voyage of discovery?”

“I saw many things, rather disturbing things initially. But I get it now, I understand. All the loss and suffering, they were written on the walls for me to observe. I can’t believe they actually had to spell it out for me to be able to comprehend their situation at the time. I feel so dull…” She quieted down.

“But now you know, right? Now you understand why we hold the Dark Bramble to such a dangerous and unspeakable regard. It’s cursed and toxic, so many Nomai _died_ there. There are even Nomai who, to this day, still regret being survivors. It’s terrible, Dark Bramble is objectively terrible. Please, just be sensitive to the ones who still have it fresh in their minds.” Cotton explained in a gentle tone.

“I promise, love.”

Cotton and Bryo settled down together on the bench, snuggling in solemn comfort. Euka gazed at them with warmth, still busy at his work, yet yearning to join them. He sighed and put down his scroll, striding over to where they rested and joined the pile.

“Everything is well with you two?” He asked.

“Of course, Euka. She just had a rough trip and is very exhausted.”

“I can only imagine what she experienced during her trip. I wish her support from all over.”

“I’m good, thank you.” She chuckled sleepily.

“To think that our day will be arriving so soon is putting me on edge. My heart is giving way to a life of uncertainty because of this.” Euka stressed.

“It is definitely something to meditate on, my friend. But, not one of us shall worry too greatly. It will be a time of euphoric celebration and joy.” Cotton assured.

“And dream of it, I will, darling.” Euka added, slowly drifting to sleep.

Cotton looked down at his two partners, softly. He carefully got up from the bench and carried both of them off to their beds. Kissing them goodnight, he crawled into his own bed, letting the last thing he saw before he fell asleep be his two loves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Letting the next few weeks fly by without building anxiety, it was just nearly that day of unity for the triad. Bryo frantically thought of what to wear for the event. Cotton sketched rough ideas of outfits that could be adapted by the hand of a tailor. Elaborate dresses, robes, and other formal wear covered the slabs he possessed.

Euka, on the other appendage, didn’t fret as much as the other two. He would simply wear whatever he had or whatever would be given to him. Of course, Nomai from the Sunless City and from Arching Isles will be participating in the event, setting up decorations and cooking food.

Cotton presented his ideas to Thorn, a Nomai adept at crafting clothing. She gladly took the concepts and began her processes. He darted right back to home and sat on the bench, waiting anxiously. Bryo walked in, seeing how upright Cotton was while sitting, and attempted to socialize with him.

“You can breathe, love. Relax your muscles, you look like a shelf with that stance.”

Cotton let out a large sigh, relaxing his shoulders.

“My apologies, I’m just so excited for the unity soon. Everyone we know will be there, and I want to be my very best.”

“You will be excellent, dear. I know it to be true.”

“And I, for one, don’t let it get to me.” Euka interjected.

“You’re not unique because of it either.” She teased.

“Is that so?” He grabbed her and started to dance.

“Well… It’s not like I can make an exception for you. Spouse or not.” She let herself be twirled around.

“Soon to be spouse, actually.” Euka dipped Bryo.

“Oh, hush, you pretentious piece of dried cactus.” She split.

Cotton leaned back against the wall, body limp as he exhaled loudly.

“Yes, Cotton?” They said in unison.

“The attire shall be completed in an hour. Yet, I feel like it’s going to take ages until they’re finished.”

“Then dance with us, and it will be sooner than you think.” Euka suggested.

“Fine, if it will appease you.” Cotton reluctantly got up.

Euka pulled him by the arm and held his hand. The three of them held onto each other, linked arm by arm, and spun around joyously. The moment before the storm.


	15. Chapter Fifteen- Precious Unity

Cotton, Euka, and Bryo gathered on top of the island, across the arch next to the warp. Crowds of Nomai surrounded them, watching this remarkable event unfold. Everyone in the party had their own air collar, refined and locked in to prevent any accidents from happening.

The triad each had their own specialized outfit, fanciful yet practical.

Euka spoke in ceremony to initiate unification.

“Friends, we wish for you to offer us your support and love, so that we may reflect it unto each other. We need it more than ever now, especially given recent news of a certain _station_. Regardless, today, we come together to celebrate love, no matter how big or how small, in all forms of expression. No one can deny it, no one shall shun it.”

“As an individual, I am unique.” Cotton started, “But as a group, we are familiar. Our personalities blend into each other, but we are still independent. I love them, and I love myself. Never be afraid to show your love in any way.”

“And your individuality matters, just like how united groups matter. We strove for a better life in quality, and that will never change, even when we are apart. This companionship of the clan made everything possible. Each generation with something new to offer or just even to refine, that’s okay. It’s about planting the seeds for the future, a future that might not be available to all of us, but it will be for someone else, one day.” Announced Bryo.

“The whole of the image is what may be visible to us at face value, but the smaller details often get overlooked in the search for something big. We must remember all that has been important for ever since Nomai took to the stars, and that’s each other.” Euka finished.

“From now on, we declare ourselves to be united in love! And we will never overlook that aspect of life for an inconceivable future.” Cotton concluded, giving a curtsy.

The group turned to the horizon, awaiting for the cyclone to arrive and lift them above. One last storm to whisk them away. Forces of gravity wavered as the island flew high above the atmosphere, Nomai floating ever so slightly over solid ground.

The rays of the Sun shone on the trio’s faces. Cotton grabbed Euka and Bryo’s heads and leaned in to kiss both of them.

“Love you two, so much.” He murmured dreamily. “Now, dive!”

The island was rapidly descending into the clouds and onto the waters below. Numbers of Nomai dodged the ground and aimed for the ocean, leaving all of them a safe landing. Cheers erupted from various Nomai as they swam back to the shore, regrouping with their loved ones.

Cotton started to laugh, then he started to cry. Euka and Bryo approached him cautiously.

“Are you well, Cotton?” Euka asked in concern.

“I- I just have never been so emotionally confused like this before. You understand?” He sobbed.

Bryo tilted her head to look at him, “I do.”

Cotton gave a relieved and shaky smile, “Thank you.”


	16. Chapter Sixteen- Dreadful Disappointment

A new day, a new dawn. Yes, the launch of the Sun Station was well underway, it’s construction over eighty percent complete on Ember Twin. But as the percentage grew, the Nomai’s stress followed close behind.

“They expect us to remain calm? Not when total destruction is imminent.” Euka fussed.

“That’s just how it is, Euka. We can not change it anymore than we can tame the tides of Giant’s Deep.” Cotton rolled his eyes.

“Enough with Giant’s Deep, Cotton. You’ve had your moment on there, don’t let it consume your mind anymore.” Bryo scoffed.

“It’s the only analogy I had, okay?”

“Your brain is wired to default to the things that cause you pain, of course it’s all you can think about.” Euka argued.

“I’m sorry I’m not a traditional professional like you two. You can lecture me all you want after the Sun Station is activated.”

“Don’t make me think about it, please.” Euka groaned, rubbing his temples.

“I thought the brain was wired to fixate on painful things? You already think about it enough…” Cotton teased.

“Shut your mouth, and don’t use my own words against me. I don’t care if you are technically correct.”

“You know what we all need right now? A nice pot of tea.” Bryo diverted.

“What would we do without you, Bryo? I’ll start it immediately!” Cotton praised.

“Have an aneurysm.”

Cotton went to the cook site and poured out a jug of water, setting it on the heated stone that was perpetually hot, no matter where it was. Not long after, the water came to a rolling boil, and Cotton took it off the hot pad, putting a small drop of herbal leaves into the mix. He came back to them with three cups of tea.

“Here we all go! Fresh brew, loves.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Yes, I give you my gratitude for the preparation of this hot beverage.”

Cotton nodded slowly.

The light of the next day became apparent, the three knocked out from the tea of last night, arose from their slumber. Three more days left.

“We’re getting closer each day. I detest that statement with a fiery passion.” Euka muttered.

“So, when it occurs, where do you want to witness it?” Cotton poked at him.

“I don’t want to answer that.”

“Okay. Bryo! Where do you want to watch the Sun combust?”

“If I must choose, I would say the North Pole. A lot of other Nomai on Ember Twin have oddly taken to the South Pole. I don’t blame them, really, it’s a great spot for viewing, but there is something about the North that puts you on the spot. That little perch in the middle of the dry lakebed has the best reception for observing astronomical events.” She answered.

“Splendid choice, love, and very articulate!” Cotton smiled with enthusiasm.

“I’m grateful that you decided to look on the bright side of this event.” Bryo mentioned.

“It’s all we can do, dear.”

“I just realized what I’ve said there. I can’t do this anymore.”

“I hated it too, sweet.”

That night left each of them to their own devices. Cotton stayed up the entirety of the time, vibrant images of supernovas plaguing his mind and the Nomai experiencing it. Bryo chatted with other insomniac Nomai whose nerves were fried clean off. Euka gave up on finishing his writing, and put his head down on the table.

Two days left.

Nothing got done that day, no one talked to each other, nobody even looked at anyone else. The only thing left was to wait.

One day left.

A number of Nomai gathered themselves and migrated out of the city, lines of them crowding the tunnels of the underground. Cotton, Euka, Bryo; they all followed suit, sticking very close to each other as they traveled to their viewing spots. The journey through the caves was a perilous one. Everyone needed to make sure that no Nomai was to be separated from the pack. Reaching the surface, the group divided into different sections, and departed to their respective places.

Plenty of containers were brought along to hold snacks and water. The camp on the surface was officially established. The trio settled onto the perch at the North Pole, laying out blankets, pillows, games, food, etc. to enjoy.

“Are we really going to just sit here, on the grating edge, until the Sun is destroyed?” Euka whimpered.

“Yes, everyone else will too.” Cotton noted, gesturing to the other camps set up around them.

“UGH!”

“I can’t believe we’re actually going to live on the surface, waiting for the Sun to explode, and I’m over here playing with a toy shuttle.” Bryo chortled.

“Want me to join in? I have a loop here.” Cotton played along.

“Why not. We’re technically still juveniles to some degree.”

“Is that shuttle actually hollow inside?” He pondered.

Bryo peered through the hull, “Yes it is, my friend. Each and every detail accurate, and I can see you through the viewport!”

“That’s so amazing! Let me examine it!” He grabbed the shuttle.

Euka glared at them judgingly, “You two really are children, aren’t you.”

“And you’re afraid of the Sun!” Cotton countered.

“Literal children.” He muttered and turned away.

A few hours pass on the clock, the first components of the Sun Station are being put into orbit around the Sun for assembly. Crowds of Nomai watch in anticipation from the ground, clutching their friends in awe and terror.

“That thing is frighteningly huge…” Euka gasped.

“It’s oddly stunning, to be honest.” Cotton remarked, mesmerised.

“That thing is a _weapon_. It will annihilate us all!” Bryo vociferated.

“We know, we all know. Once the pieces come together, they will soon command it to fire. I’m curious of the result and how they make it work.” Said Cotton.

“I imagine that the station absorbs enough energy from the Sun and shoots it back into itself with unimaginable force.” She hypothesized.

“Oh wow…”

“I mean, look! From what I can see, the station possesses receivers amongst the barrel of the laser. If I can posit anything, the copper is meant to contain the energy and charge it up.” She pointed out the details.

Cotton furrowed his eyebrows as he craned his neck further in.

“By my third eye, it looks like you’re right, Bryo! How did you know that?”

“I read about it on a scroll on engineering. I was curious, okay!” She professed.

Small beams of gravity compulsors pushed the parts of the station in close proximity to one another. A crew of Nomai wearing heavy duty suits fastened them into place with magnetic sealers. At last, the Sun Station was complete, grand and ominous in orbit, passing in front of the Sun like a giant black swarm. It wouldn’t be long until the orders were dealt to fire the laser.

“Wow, look at it. I’m so excited, I might heave.” Cotton exclaimed.

“Please… don’t. I prefer having my last image not be of you losing your guts.” Euka cringed.

“Anything is bound to happen soon, even throwing up your breakfast that you just ATE.” Bryo whinged.

“I’m sorry!” Cotton started to rant, however his attention was diverted by a bright light quivering around the Sun Station.

“Oh my stars, are you seeing this? They’re about to fire!” She covered her mouth in shock.

The three of them quickly huddled together, bracing each other tightly.

“Avert your eyes, everyone! Do not let the rays damage your retinas!” A Nomai called out from beyond the lakebed.

The Sun Station charged up the energy it collected from the Sun itself, forming a halo around it. Suddenly, it pulsed, and all the energy cascaded back into the star, compromising the station’s integrity ever so slightly.

Nothing.

Nothing happened.

The crew aboard the Sun Station were as ever puzzled by the non-reaction of the Sun as the Construction Yard was about the Probe Tracking Module. Yarrow messaged them after a few moments.

_{Yarrow: What happened? Did the Sun Station not fire?}_

_{Pye: It fired, Yarrow. But it failed. The sun barely responded; there were infinitesimally small surface level changes, but they were barely visible, even to the third eye.}_

_{Pye: The Sun Station is useless! It will never, and **could** never, cause the sun to explode.}_

_{Pye: I don’t know what comes next, my friends. I suppose we must start over, but I’m unsure how to start over.}_

_{Yarrow: Pye… I hurt for you, my friends; we all know how hard you’ve both worked. I can only offer my compassion. How are you? How is Idaea?}_

_{Idaea: We’re well, Yarrow (or as well as can be expected, given the circumstances), though disappointed. I may have disagreed with exploding the sun, but I never wished the device would fail. I’d hoped our terrible work was finished.}_

“Idaea, are you certain you are well? You seem to be very conflicted.” Pye checked in.

“All of our work, wasted, Pye. So much time has been lost to building this _weapon_ , and for what? Failure? I’m unsure of how to even cope with this, I’m so lost.” Idaea lamented.

“Everything will be fine, friend. We can go back home, and perhaps solve this everlasting problem.”

Another note popped up on the wall, and she went to read it.

_{Yarrow: Return to Ash Twin first, my friend. Perhaps a change of task would help: Spire noticed a comet approaching this star system that we’d like to investigate.}_

“How exciting this is! Idaea, look, a comet is soon to arrive in the star system! Do you wish to join us?” Pye exclaimed.

“I’m afraid not, Pye. If it is alright with you, I want to stay on the Sun Station for a while longer. Perhaps from there, I can look over the data and fix any problems that there could be.” Idaea politely declined.

“If that is what you wish, then I shall not disturb you. I hope the best of luck for you!” She waved goodbye.

“As for you, too!” He waved back.

Disappointed by the lack of a reaction from the Sun, all the Nomai returned back to their dwellings. Pye, Poke, and Clary were assigned a mission to investigate the new arrived comet, and were set to leave by shuttle.

Cotton, Euka, and Bryo had already gone back to the city to further discuss the massive failure that was the Sun Station.

“I can not believe it! All that waiting just for it to fail entirely? I am beyond furious about this, it’s absolutely outrageous!” Euka shouted.

“Ease it, Euka. It’s fine, they will find a way to solve the problem, eventually.” Cotton consoled.

“We’ll all be dead by the time they find something wrong!”

“That is not true!”

In the corner of the room, Bryo sat by herself, complacently ignoring their quarreling. All she wanted to do was ignore everything, it didn’t matter much anymore to her. Cotton noticed her gloomy state of being and went to check on her.

“Bryo, my sweet. How are you doing, love?”

“I’m well, Cotton.” She said, displeased.

“Not to me, it seems like. Are you bothered by the Sun Station as well?”

“I’m just… very disappointed. I didn’t expect it to mess up so majorly.”

“Nobody could have predicted this, Bryo. Nobody is at fault for this, it was probably just a computing error or a displacement of sorts. We all make mistakes.” He advised.

“I wish we didn’t…”

“I know.”


	17. Chapter Seventeen- Interloper

Landing on the comet, far on the edges of the solar system, Clary, Poke and Pye exited the shuttle onto new grounds. Immediately, they noticed a problem with the ship.

Using a recorder, they noted their observations for future reference.

“This is troublesome: It seems that the comet wishes to submerge our shuttle in ice. If we stay on the surface too long, the shuttle may freeze entirely.” Clary postulated.

“Even if it did, couldn’t someone call it back home to the gravity cannon on Ember Twin?” Poke guessed.

“Yes, but the exploration of the comet would be more difficult if we were without the shuttle until someone recalled it. Perhaps we shouldn’t have landed on the dark side of the comet…” Pye asserted.

“Suppose one of us remained in the shuttle to keep it warm and continue monitoring the surface.”

“This would be wise, I think, Clary. If you don’t mind waiting here with it, Poke and I can continue to investigate the surface.”

Clary nodded accordingly and went back into the ship. Poke and Pye skated around on the slick ice until they found semi-solid rock. They continued to travel forward to the sunward side to see if there was anything worth examining. Indeed there was, right on the face of the comet was a decent-sized fissure, big enough to crawl in.

“Hold on, Poke, the readings are emitting from within here. I believe we should go under…” Pye discovered.

“Copy that. Clary? We are going to descend into the comet, there is a fissure here on the sunward side.” Poke informed her sister through the comlink.

“I understand, take caution. We don’t know anything of what this comet entails.”

The two dropped into the crack, attempting to stabilize themselves on the ice, and went down further into the cave. They came to a tunnel just to the right of them, but more lay up ahead at an intersection. The sapling they took with them was placed against the icy walls of the cave, set to grow and refill their tanks. Pye brought out another recorder and started her notes.

“I’m receiving much stronger energy readings now that we are beneath the crust. Whatever it is must lie somewhere below, closer to the comet’s center. And I’m starting to think that it’s more dangerous than we realized.”

“Clary, can you hear us?”

_“Yes, but your voices are faint. I fear that we will lose communication entirely if you continue any deeper.”_

“Keep the shuttle warm for us, Clary. We’ll return the moment we identify the source of the energy readings!” Poke added.

_“I understand... But be cautious, both of you.”_

**  
**

Clary scanned the surface for any abnormalities or points of interest, nothing came close to what Pye and her sister were describing. In fact, the longer they took to contact her in any way, the more her worst fears came to life before her very eyes. She understood that she would eventually lose connection with them, but it had been ages, and they were on an alien body from outside the system. Anything could be and will be possible at this point.

“I fear our situation may be dire:” She whispered to the recorder.

“Pye, Poke, and I landed here on this comet not long after its arrival in this star system. Our shuttle’s equipment heard strange energy readings coming from somewhere beneath the surface.”

“Pye and Poke were able to locate a fissure in the ice on the comet’s sunward side, and they descended inside to investigate the source of the readings.”

“But… Pye and my sister have been gone for a long time now. They haven’t contacted me since descending below the surface, either.”

“Should I leave the shuttle to look for them? I want to follow protocol, but I don’t know what I’ll do if they aren’t well…”

“Poke… Pye… Come back to me safely, my friends.”

****

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

****

****

To regather their thoughts and feelings, Cotton, Euka, and Bryo went to the Eye Shrine, as with a few others that decided the same. They thought it best to just find a way to divert their attention for some time. Sitting down at the tables, they started different topics to discuss.

“Well, I believe we should all start over. This marks a new era for us, I think.” Euka stated.

“If anything, I want to start working on making Giant’s Deep a safer place for Nomai to live.” Cotton proposed.

“Okay, that’s fine. Anything that will relieve your stress of that planet, I hope you succeed.”

“Please, just get it over with already.” Groaned Bryo.

“I will, I promise. Perhaps tomorrow, I shall begin my concepts.”

“You better, I want to see you awake first thing in the morning working on those slabs.” She demanded.

“And what will you do in the meantime?” Cotton taunted.

“I will learn what I can about any mysteries that I find. Mind it, love.”

“Okay… Euka?”

“I need a break, is all.” Euka said, rubbing his eyes.

“We all deserve one honestly.”

“Can we start right now?”

“Of course we can, love.”

**  
**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The farther we descend into this comet, the more uncomfortable my heart becomes, like it’s… dying, somehow.” Poke noted.

“A heart for a heart, huh? I’m sure it won’t be too dangerous, proposing the idea that we analyse it thoroughly and understand its intentions. It still remains as one of the most fascinating bodies we have explored thus far.” Pye reassured.

“I don’t want it to be a threat, however, Pye. I so desperately want this to be benevolent and a hub of research. Just imagine all of the things we can learn from it and whatever that it can teach us of a life outside this system…”

The two Nomai slid carefully across the ice, down further towards the core. Poke glanced all around the slick caverns, taking mental notes of its interior resources. Finally they came upon a large hole, inviting them to jump in.

Reaching the core of the comet, Poke and Pye examine their surroundings and start their notes.

“The spherical stone casing here seems to be the source of the energy readings… No, rather, the source is what’s within the stone. I’m detecting some form of exotic matter.” Poke observed.

“The stone is _muting_ our energy readings; they should be ten times what we’re seeing, at least.” Pye interjected.

“Pye, I don’t think we want this matter interacting with us. As far as I can tell, direct contact with it would almost certainly be fatal.”

“I’ve never encountered anything like this casing, but it's all that’s protecting us from what’s inside. Worse still, this matter is disturbingly volatile.”

“...Pye. Whatever the matter inside this stone casing is, it’s more than just profoundly unstable; it’s under tonnes of pressure. Look at this density scan. I’ve never seen _anything_ this tightly compacted before. What _is_ this?”

“This is orders of magnitude worse than I’d imagined. If this stone were to rupture, the lethal matter within would rapidly expand, completely blanketing this star system almost instantaneously. And the pressure is still building as the comet approaches this star system…” Pye briefed, looking at the rising bar on the equipment.

“Return to the shuttle, right now! The rest of our friends need to know they’re in terrible danger. Leave your equipment and run!”

“What are you doing, Pye?!”

“The more we know about this alien matter, the better our chances of survival. I will learn what I can here. Go, warn the others; maybe they can construct shelter somehow. … _Now_ , Poke!” Pye cried out, and the recording halted.

“Pye!” Poke screeched. She had to obey and clawed at the air, trying to fly over a crack right above them.

Just before Pye could close in for a more detailed examination, the casing started to crack. In less than a microsecond, the stone split open, exposing _everything_ in its path to the toxicity. The sub zero temperatures seeped into their suits, freezing them alive. Their veins, their hearts, their brains, they all turned into pure solid ice. Pye could barely shed a scream before she succumbed to the impossible cold, rendering her completely dead and still. And Poke barely crawled out of the crevice before she was encased in the crystalline matter, gluing her in place.

The gases spread everywhere in the system, leaving nothing untouched. No Nomai, no stone, no life forms were spared in its wake. Everyone in unison took their last breath as the matter captured them, placing them in a life left frozen in time. A people murdered in cold blood, just before their final breakthrough.

**  
**

The Nomai never got to see it for themselves, but thanks to their efforts and technology, the future shall depend on the next to come after, the ones who shall take what was and complete their voyage, one final time...


End file.
